Data Breach Solicitors For Bury

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Bury Data Breach Solicitors – Expert Claims Support

If you have become the victim of a data breach, you may have suffered mental trauma and/or some level of financial loss. In the right circumstances, you could be able to claim data breach compensation for both of these eventualities. In this short online guide, we are going to cover the basics of how data breach solicitors for Bury could be able to help you to make a compensation claim if your data has been exposed. We will look at how data breaches happen, and why you may be eligible to claim compensation for a breach of your personal data, in the right circumstances.

Data breach solicitors Bury

Data breach solicitors for Bury

Although claims can be similar, no two are exactly the same. Yours will be based on how your data came to be breached, and your reasons for seeking damages for this personal data breach. This short guide cannot cover every permutation of possible circumstances. We can only cover the basics in this guide. However, if you still have questions that need to be answered once you have finished reading this guide, our claim advisors can help you further. Our lines are open day and night, 365 days a year. You can call to speak to an advisor whenever you have time by calling 0800 073 8804. Or you can get in touch using our contact form.

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When Could You Claim With Data Breach Solicitors For Bury?

We all share personal data with a whole range of third parties. And in every case, this data should be protected from unlawful use, accidental exposure or access by an unauthorised entity.

If this data is subsequently exposed in a data breach, this could result in some form of financial loss. It could also lead to you having to go through a stressful and traumatic event, that could cause mental health problems. For example, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression or anxiety.

In such cases, data breach solicitors for Bury could be able to help you claim compensation for this mental harm or monetary loss. However, the onus will always be on you to prove how the organisation (the data controller) did not do enough to protect your personal data. In other words, you must be able to prove liability. In cases where liability cannot be proven then a claim is highly unlikely.

The aim of this guide, is to provide you with the information you need to decide whether you could be able to make a claim, and also how to go about starting such a claim.

Types Of Protected Data

Not all data is protected by data protection laws. Only your personal data and other sensitive data that is classified as special data is covered. Any other data that is not protected and subsequently exposed, could not become the basis of a claim. In short, data breach solicitors for Bury can only help you to claim for a breach affecting your special or personal data, as defined below.

  • Your personal data is defined as the unique data that is tied to you. Examples of this would include your date of birth, email address, telephone number, postal address, bank account and card info, etc.
  • Your special data is defined as facts about you, that if not protected, could be used against you in some way. For example, genome and medical data, trade union and political party memberships, your race or religion, and your sexual preference.

Laws That Are In-Play

If you make a claim for a personal data breach, data breach solicitors for Bury (if you have chosen to use a solicitor) will need to prove how an organisation/data controller did not take the necessary steps when securing your personal data.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the governing body for data privacy and protection laws in the UK. The ICO makes policy related to data privacy governance, carries out investigations of data breaches, and is capable of taking punitive action against liable parties. In the UK, the main bodies of law that apply to data security and privacy are the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK version of General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR).

What Is A Breach Of Data Security?

Now we know what types of data need to be safeguarded, and the laws that aim to enforce this, we can begin looking at how a breach of data protection can occur. Every organisation that processes or stores your data, is legally obliged to follow the requirements of UK GDPR compliance at all times. If compliance fails in a way that compromises your data, a team of data breach solicitors for Bury may be able to process a compensation claim for you.

However, you will need to prove that a failure to comply with regulations was the cause of the data breach. Additionally, you will need to prove the harm and monetary loss the data breach caused you. This means showing that a breach of network or computer security, or a human error caused the data breach. And that the data breach would have been avoided had compliance not slipped.

Data Breaches – How They Happen

Poor compliance with data protection laws could mean your personal data is compromised. Some data breaches are caused by ineffective technology. Others are caused by nothing more nefarious than human error. And others are the result of the actions of cybercriminals proactively looking for poorly protected data. Below, are some examples of scenarios that data breach claim solicitors might be able to help you to claim for.

  • Your data is faxed, emailed or posted to a third party that does not have the authorisation to have it.
  • Your data is not redacted fully from a document before it is shared with a wider audience.
  • A person setting up a bulk email fails to use the BCC box, and your email address is exposed.
  • Paperwork containing your data is lost or stolen. Or it is disposed of without following regulator requirements.
  • A digital storage device containing your data is disposed of, without following guidelines for wiping it fully.

How Often Do Data Breaches Happen?

The ICO makes data related to the frequency and cause of data breaches available to the public. We have used this data to make the graph you can see below. The graph visualises the causes of non-cyber security data incidents for the Q2 financial period 2021-22 according to ICO statistics.

Non-Cyberscurity Related Data Breaches

Do You Have To Claim With A Data Protection Solicitor?

You can use data breach solicitors for Bury to help you make a compensation claim. However legal representation is not compulsory. But before you do this, there are two steps you may like to take, that might support your claim.

Firstly, you may wish to contact the organisation that you fear has suffered a data breach. You should be able to learn if a breach has happened and whether it has an impact on your data or not.

Secondly, you can reach out to the ICO to report the data breach in Bury and potentially make a complaint. However, your last meaningful communication with the organisation that caused the data breach will need to be within the last three months. The ICO, in general, does not follow up on more aged reports.

What Are Data Protection Breach Claims Worth?

We can’t provide you with some sort of average figure for compensation for a GDPR data breach. Your claim will be unique, and this means the amount of your compensation settlement will be too. You may face mental stress and trauma while dealing with a data breach. You could be able to claim for this harm.

When data breach claims are successful the claimant can claim up to two main types of damages. They are material and non-material damages. Material damages take into account the financial losses and expenses caused because of the data breach. Non-material damages will look at compensating for the mental harm suffered by the claimant. 

The table below gives ranges of compensation for different levels of mental health problems. We based this table on information taken from the guidelines produced by the Judicial College. These guidelines are used by the legal system to value injuries in personal injury claims. The table only includes non-material damages. 

Edit
Mental Health Issue Severity Damages Range More Information
PTSD Severe £56,180 to £94,470 The long-term symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder will have a significant negative impact on your quality of life, potentially for the rest of your life.
PTSD Moderate to severe £21,730 to £56,180 The long-term symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder will have a measurable negative impact on your quality of life for some time.
PTSD Moderate £7,680 to £21,730 The medium-term symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder will have a slightly negative effect upon your quality of life, but you will likely recover fully in time.
PTSD Less severe £3,710 to £7,680 The short-term symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder will have a minor negative impact on your quality of life, but only for a short time.
Psychological Injuries Less severe £1,440 to £5,500 Less severe psychological problems, from which you would recover, but with the chance of some ongoing mental health issues.
Psychological Injuries Severe £51,460 to £108,620 Severe psychological problems, from which you would likely not recover fully from. As there is a high likelihood of ongoing symptoms that will negatively impact your life in the long term.
Psychological Injuries Moderate to severe £17,900 to £51,460 Moderate to severe psychological problems, from which you would recover, but that may leave you with some residual symptoms.
Psychological Injuries Moderate £5,500 to £17,900 Moderate psychological problems, from which you would recover fully.

What Damages Could You Claim For?

The table above shows non-material damages, paid for physical or mental harm. But you could also suffer a monetary loss due to a data breach, which might also be reimbursed via data breach compensation. These damages are called material damages. You will have to prove these losses in some way, in order for you to claim for them. Here are some examples of reasons to claim for these damages as part of data breach claims.

  • If you took time off work to deal with the problems caused by a data breach, and you didn’t receive your full payment.
  • For monetary loss caused by a bank data breach,
  • To compensate for debt that has been taken on in your name. For example, hire purchase agreements or cash loans.
  • Ad-hoc expenses related to dealing with the data breach or the claim itself could be recouped.

No Win No Fee Data Breach GDPR Solicitors For Bury

You could use a No Win No Fee agreement, formally known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), to gain access to the services of data breach solicitors for Bury. Under such an arrangement, you don’t have to pay any upfront or ongoing fees to your data breach solicitors while the claim is being processed.

Furthermore, you won’t have to pay a fee to your data protection breach solicitors if the claim is not won. However, if you successfully win your claim for a personal data protection breach, your solicitor will ask that you pay a success fee.  The amount of which is legally limited, and it can be taken out of the compensation settlement your lawyer was sent for you.

Claim Compensation With Data Breach Solicitors For Bury

Do you need to find a good team of data breach lawyers? Then we can help. We can provide you with one of our data breach solicitors covering Bury, and help you to get your claim started as quickly as possible. Use the information below to speak to an advisor today.

Telephone: 0800 073 8804

Email: info@legalexpert.co.uk

Or use our web contact form.

Quick Links And Related Guides

Here are some other guides we have published.

School Data Breach Claims Guide

Claiming For Loss of Medical Records? 

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Claim Guide. 

These web pages also have some good info.

Your Data Rights Explained

Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021

The Data Protection Act 2018

Guide By Wheeler

Edited By Melissa.

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    • Patrick Mallon

      Patrick is a Grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005. He's an an expert in accident at work and public liability claims and is currently our head of the EL/PL department. Get in touch today for free to see how we can help you.