Northampton Data Breach Solicitors – Expert Claims Support
In this guide, we will give some advice and information about claiming using data breach solicitors for Northampton. How much compensation can you get for a breach of data protection? This is a complicated question to give a short answer to. However, if you read this guide about claiming for a Northampton data breach, you will learn a fuller answer. We will be looking at what data breaches are and how they happen, and also the process of starting a claim. And this will include explaining why you could be eligible for compensation.
Data breach solicitors for Northampton
Your specific case will be based on at least partially unique circumstances. The reason for highlighting this is that we can’t cover every possible combination of circumstances in one guide. You may have questions unanswered at the end of it. We can still assist you though. Our claims line is open 24 hours a day, every single day of the week. You can speak to our claim advisors to have your questions answered. They can also tell you how we can help by providing a lawyer to process your claim for you. You can call us on 0800 073 8804, or reach out to us via our contact form.
Select a Section:
- Explaining How Data Breach Solicitors For Northampton Could Help You
- What Is A Data Privacy Breach?
- How Do Most Data Breaches Occur?
- Are Data Breaches Happening More Commonly?
- I Think My Data Privacy Was Breached, What Do I Do Next?
- What Data Breach Settlement Payout Could I Get?
- No Win No Fee Agreements And Funding Data Breach Solicitors
- Getting In Touch With Data Breach Solicitors For Northampton
- More Ways Data Breach Solicitors For Northampton Could Help You
Explaining How Data Breach Solicitors For Northampton Could Help You
In the next couple of sections, we will explain how the law applies to certain types of data, in relation to keeping it protected from unlawful use or access. For now, you just need to know that if your data is breached in a way that causes you harm or loss, in some circumstances, data breach solicitors for Northampton could help you to make a compensation claim.
However, in order to make a claim for a data breach in Northampton, you need to prove that your data was put at risk because an organisation failed to keep its legal obligation to keep your data safe. By reading this guide, you will learn the basics of proving such a claim and be able to decide whether your own case may be a valid claim.
What Data Is Protected?
In order to begin to understand how data breach solicitors for Northampton can help you, you need to know what type of data is protected by law. What is a personal data privacy breach? A simple answer would be any time your personal or special data is exposed to access or use that is unlawful or accidental because of a breach in data security. But what do we mean by personal and special data? We have defined them below.
- Personal data – is data that is unique to you in some way. Your telephone number, bank details, email address, postal address, card number, etc.
- Special data – is data that can be used to find something out about you. For example, your religious beliefs, medical information, genome data, trade union memberships, etc.
What Laws Apply?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is responsible for overseeing data protection and privacy laws in the UK. Upholding all of the legislation that is in place to protect your data. This includes the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. It is these laws that data breach solicitors for Northampton will use to show how a data controller is liable. A data controller is an organisation or entity that collects personal data.
What Is A Data Privacy Breach?
Every organisation in the UK that stores and processes your personal or special data is obliged to comply with all data protection and privacy laws. UK GDPR compliance is not optional. Privately owned businesses and charities have to comply, as do government-run agencies, and educational establishments such as the University of Northampton. In very rare cases some organisations may be exempt or have exemptions.
When compliance protocols fail, this can expose your data in some way. This risk could allow your data to be used or accessed by an unauthorised party. And in a worst-case scenario, this access would enable a criminal to use your data for fraudulent means. This could result in stress and psychological trauma. It could also result in significant financial loss. However, data breach solicitors covering Northampton may be able to help you to claim for either harm or loss.
How Do Most Data Breaches Occur?
A data protection breach can have many causes. Ranging from lax cybersecurity and failure to comply fully with data protection laws, to simple human error. Below, we have given some examples of how data breaches can happen.
- Your data is emailed, posted or faxed to somebody who does not have the authorisation to access it.
- A document is circulated that contains your data because it was not fully redacted.
- Your email address is exposed because the BCC box was not used when sending a mass email.
- Hard copy paperwork that contains your data is lost or stolen.
- Paper-based or digitally stored records are disposed of without following legal requirements for doing so.
Some of these examples show how a simple human error, often attributable to a lack of training, can expose your data in some way. In each case, if you can prove liability, data breach solicitors covering Northampton could be able to help you to claim compensation.
Are Data Breaches Happening More Commonly?
As part of its responsibilities, the ICO collects data that relates to how data breaches happen in the UK. We were able to take some of this data and create the graph below. The graph shows the total number of non-cyber security-related data incidents across different sectors, for the Q2 financial 2021/22 period.
I Think My Data Privacy Was Breached, What Do I Do Next?
If you believe that your data has been exposed in a data breach, there are some steps you can take to begin the process of making data breach claims. Firstly, you can contact the organisation that you believe has suffered a data breach. You can ask whether a data breach has occurred and if it has, how badly your data has been affected.
Secondly, you could make a complaint to the ICO and report the data breach. Keep in mind though, that the ICO will usually only investigate a data breach if your correspondents with the data controller has been within 3 months. Or if the last time you discussed the data breach with the organisation involved in the data breach took place less than three months ago.
If you decide that you do not want to make a complaint to the ICO you can still pursue a data breach claim. If you prefer, you can call our team of expert advisors for some free legal advice on how to approach your potential claim.
What Data Breach Settlement Payout Could I Get?
We cannot provide you with an average value for your possible claim. Each claim is different in some way. No two claims will ever be the same although they may have similar attributes. Successful data breach claims can include material and non-material damages. Non-material damages compensate for psychological harm.
The table below can be used to get a rough idea of the level of non-material damages you might receive. Non-material damages all relate to some form of psychological harm. For example, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dealing with the aftermath of a data breach could be a very traumatic event in your life. Which in itself, could result in mental hardship causing psychological injuries. The table below is based on guidelines from the Judicial College. It shows possible compensation ranges for different mental health problems. These guidelines are used by data breach solicitors and the legal system to value such injuries. For a more accurate estimate of how much compensation for a data breach you might get, call our team and ask them to arrange for a lawyer to value your claim for you.
| Psychological Issue | How Severe? | Additional Info | Possible Compensation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mental harm | Less severe | Less severe psychological problems, from which you would recover, but with the chance of some ongoing mental health issues. | £1,440 to £5,500 | |||
| Mental harm | Severe | 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. | £51,460 to £108,620 | |||
| Mental harm | Moderate to severe | Moderate to severe psychological problems, some recovery would happen with professional help. | £17,900 to £51,460 | |||
| Mental harm | Moderate | Moderate psychological problems, from which a near recovery could be made. | £5,500 to £17,900 | |||
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Severe | The long-term impact of PTSD will have a significant negative impact on your quality of life, potentially permanently. | £56,180 to £94,470 | |||
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Moderate to severe | The long-term impact of PTSD will have a measurable negative effect on your quality of life for some time. | £21,730 to £56,180 | |||
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Moderate | The medium-term impact of PTSD will have a negative impact upon your quality of life, but you should recover fully in time. | £7,680 to £21,730 | |||
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Less severe | The short-term impact of PTSD will have a minor negative effect on your quality of life, but only for a short time. | £3,710 to £7,680 |
Material Damages Explained
We covered what non-material damages are in the previous section. Now, we need to look at how material damages relate to data breach compensation claims. Material damages are paid to make up for the monetary loss. It could be possible for data breach lawyers to claim back any financial losses that have been caused by a data breach. Below, we have listed some examples.
- Financial loss caused by a cybercriminal accessing your bank account, or spending on your debit/credit cards.
- To cover any new debt you face, due to a cybercriminal taking out new credit agreements or loans in your name.
- To make up for any loss of earnings. If, for example, you had to take time off work to deal with the aftermath of the data breach, and were not paid in full for this time.
- For the cost of any private medical care, you needed. For example, paying for private therapy to deal with stress and trauma.
- Ad-hoc costs are associated with either dealing with the data breach or the claim itself. For example, if you had to make many phone calls, or send documents using a courier service.
Each of these types of financial losses could be a reason why data breach solicitors for Northampton could pursue damages for you.
No Win No Fee Agreements And Funding Data Breach Solicitors
You may be able to use data breach solicitors for Northampton working under a No Win No Fee agreement. This is also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When you make a claim with No Win No Fee solicitors, you don’t pay any upfront fees to your data breach claim solicitors. Additionally, if the claim fails, your solicitor won’t ask to be paid their fee. However, on a successful claim, the solicitor will expect to be paid a success fee, the value of which is limited by law.
Getting In Touch With Data Breach Solicitors For Northampton
Do you need to find a good team of data breach lawyers to help you make a claim? We can provide you with expert data breach solicitors for Northampton. Get in touch with us using the information below.
Telephone: 0800 073 8804
Email: info@legalexpert.co.uk
Or use our web contact form and check out our reviews.
More Ways Data Breach Solicitors For Northampton Could Help You
Here are some useful external links.
Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021
And here are some links to associated guides.
Social Services Data Breach Guide
Can I Get Compensation For Loss of Medical Records?
School Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide
Guide By Wheeler
Edited By Melissa.
