Oldham Data Breach Solicitors – Expert Claims Support
If you’ve suffered a data breach that has exposed your data and caused you financial or psychological harm, you may be looking for data breach solicitors in Oldham. While we are not based in Oldham, our data breach solicitors may be able to help you with a compensation claim if an organisation in Oldham has exposed your personal data, causing you harm.
Data breach solicitors for Oldham guide
We have put this guide together to give you useful insight and guidance on making claims for compensation for harm caused by a breach of personal data. We answer some common questions about how and when you could make a claim for data breach compensation, including:
- What is a data security breach?
- How often do data breaches occur?
- What are the common causes of GDPR data breaches?
- Can I get compensation for a data breach?
- How much compensation can you get for a breach of GDPR?
- Do I need a specialist solicitor and will my claim go to court?
We also offer insight into the role that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has when it comes to enforcing data protection regulations in the UK. Further to this, we give you some insight into how we could help you start a No Win No Fee claim for data breach compensation if the unlawful or unauthorised exposure of your personal data has caused you financial or emotional harm.
If you’d like to talk to us about the guidance below, or you’re ready to begin a claim, please call our expert team. You can reach us on 0800 073 8804, through our online form or by using the live chat feature to the bottom-right of this screen.
Select a Section
- An Overview Of Services Provided By Data Breach Solicitors For Oldham
- What Is A Data Security Breach?
- Common Causes Of GDPR Data Breaches
- How Often Do Data Breaches Occur?
- Do I Need A Specialist Solicitor And Will My Claim Go To Court?
- How Are Data Breach Compensation Payouts Calculated?
- Can Data Breach Solicitors For Oldham Work On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- How To Contact An Expert Data Breach Solicitor For Oldham
- Additional Resources
An Overview Of Services Provided By Data Breach Solicitors For Oldham
There are many different organisations that may need to process your personal data. Whether you have given your data to a credit card provider, healthcare provider, an educational institute like a school or nursery, or any other organisation, they should take steps to protect it.
The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR as it is otherwise known, is a piece of EU legislation that was introduced in 2018. Later in the same year, the UK ratified this into law through the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). An updated version of the DPA now sites alongside the UK GDPR, and this is the regime we refer to when we talk about UK data protection.
You might be unsure as to whether you have a valid data breach claim. Or you may be wondering what the best steps are to take if you suspect that an organisation has exposed your personal data. If this is the case, we can help.
Our claims team will be happy to offer you free legal advice about the process of claiming. Furthermore, if your claim is valid, you could be connected with one of our data breach solicitors for Oldham.
What Is A Data Security Breach?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which enforces data protection legislation in the UK, provides a definition of what a data breach is. They’re breaches of security resulting in accidental or unlawful destruction, alteration, loss, unauthorised access to or disclosure of personal data.
Personal data is classed as any information that can be used to identify an individual. This can either be information that can be used to identify you alone or when combined with other information.
Data breaches could be accidental, or they could relate to a malicious attack. However, in order for you to claim compensation, you need to show that the organisation that was responsible for processing your data failed to protect it. If they did all they could to keep your data safe and a breach occurred anyway, you would be unlikely to be able to claim.
Common Causes Of GDPR Data Breaches
You may think that UK GDPR data breaches occur as the result of malicious attacks. However, there are a number of potential causes of UK GDPR data breaches that could relate to human error.
Examples could include:
- An organisation failing to correctly dispose of hardware or paperwork containing personal data.
- Failing to blind carbon copy (BCC) recipients of an e-mail could expose their e-mail addresses to each other.
- An organisation sends personal data to the wrong person via e-mail, letter or fax.
- An organisation failing to properly redact personal data when sending information to a third party.
This represents only a few examples of the potential causes of data breaches. Data breach solicitors for Oldham could help with other incidents.
Remember, you would need to be able to evidence that failings on the part of the organisation that exposed your data led to the breach that caused you harm. If you would like us to check your eligibility, we would be happy to do so; simply get in touch today.
How Often Do Data Breaches Occur?
From the first quarter of 2019/20 to the second quarter of 2021/22, the number of data breaches per quarter has dropped from 3091 to 2431, according to the ICO. However, this still represents a large number of people who could have had their data exposed.
The majority of such reports relate to non-cyber security incidents. There were 2,518 non-cyber security incident reports, compared to 573 instances of cyber security incidents.
If the positive wrongful conduct of a bank, police force or other organisation has exposed your data, causing you harm, we could assess your case to see if one of our data breach solicitors for Oldham could help you. Simply get in touch today for a no-obligation valuation of your claim.
Do I Need A Specialist Solicitor And Will My Claim Go To Court?
If an organisation has exposed your personal data in a way that threatens your rights and freedoms, then they should tell you about this. They should do so without undue delay.
If you’re concerned about the way your data has been processed but you haven’t been advised of a breach, you can raise your concerns with the organisation directly. If you’re not satisfied with their response, you should escalate your complaint.
You can escalate your complaint to the ICO if you’re still not satisfied with the organisation’s response. You should do this within 3 months of your last meaningful communication with the organisation; if you wait any longer, they may decline to investigate.
While the ICO can investigate data breaches and fine organisations who breach data privacy laws, they cannot award compensation. If you’d like to seek compensation for the harm caused by the breach, you may be interested in working with a data breach solicitor.
You don’t need a data breach solicitor in the UK to make a claim; you can pursue one yourself without legal representation. However, you may find that their guidance and support makes the claims process run more smoothly than it otherwise would.
How Are Data Breach Compensation Payouts Calculated?
Data breach solicitors covering Oldham could help you get compensation for a UK GDPR data breach that has exposed your data and harmed you. However, you may be wondering how much compensation you could be entitled to in this kind of claim, or how it’s calculated.
Compensation for a breach of the UK GDPR could include non-material and material damages. Material damages cover any financial losses you’ve experienced as a result. For example, your credit score might be affected if someone steals your identity as a result of a data breach and takes out credit cards in your name.
Non-material damages, on the other hand, relate to the psychological impact of a data breach. Some claimants suffer anxiety, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or depression due to a breach of personal data.
It used to be the case that you could only claim for non-material damages if your claim had also included material damages. However, a ruling in the case of Vidal Hall vs Google [2015] means that claims can now be made for non-material harm where the claimant has not suffered financially.
An appointment with an independent medical specialist could be arranged as part of your claim to provide a medical report verifying such injuries. This report can be used with the help of a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines to value your claim. These guidelines are usually used to value personal injury claims; however, a ruling in Gulati vs MGN [2015] means that they can now be used to value data breach claims.
You can find examples of the guideline figures from the Judicial College in the table below. This could provide guidance as an alternative to a claims calculator.
| Injury type | Guideline Bracket | Level of Severity |
|---|---|---|
| PTSD | £3,710 to £7,680 | Less severe |
| Cases of psychological injury (general) | £1,440 to £5,500 | Less severe |
| PTSD | £7,680 to £21,730 | Moderate |
| Cases of psychological injury (general) | £5,500 to £17,900 | Moderate |
| PTSD | £21,730 to £56,180 | Moderately severe |
| Cases of psychological injury (general) | £17,900 to £51,460 | Moderately severe |
| PTSD | £56,180 to £94,470 | Severe |
| Cases of psychological injury (general) | £51,460 to £108,620 | Severe |
Can Data Breach Solicitors For Oldham Work On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Did you know that it could be possible for you to utilise the services of data breach solicitors for Oldham claims on a No Win No Fee basis? If you’re not sure how a No Win No Fee agreement works, please read on.
A No Win No Fee agreement can also be referred to as a Conditional Fee Agreement. This is an agreement between you and your solicitor. It sets out the conditions that your solicitor needs to meet before you pay them. It means that your solicitor won’t ask you to pay any upfront or ongoing fees.
They also won’t ask you to pay them anything in the event that your claim is unsuccessful. If your claim is successful, they’ll charge a legally-capped success fee. This will be deducted from your compensation.
A solicitor who intends to take on your claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement would need to initially check that your claim had a favourable chance of success. They could do so by assessing:
- Whether you’re within the limitation period for claiming – 1 year if the breach involves a public body or 6 years for all other organisations.
- What caused the breach – as well as proving a breach occurred, you’d need to prove that the organisation had failed to protect your data.
- Whether the breach directly caused financial or emotional harm.
Would you like us to assess your case to see if you could be eligible to claim data breach compensation? We could do so without charge, and if we believe that you could have a valid claim, we could provide you with No Win No Fee data breach solicitors for Oldham.
How To Contact An Expert Data Breach Solicitor For Oldham
As we have mentioned, you do not have to search “data breach solicitors near me” in order to gain quality legal representation for your claim. We have data breach solicitors that could handle claims in Oldham or any other part of the country, and our solicitors have great reviews. If you would like to get in touch with this to learn more about making data breach claims, you can reach us:
- By calling 0800 073 8804
- Via e-mail info@legalexpert.co.uk
- By Live Chatting using the window at the bottom right of this screen
- Through our contact form
Additional Resources
What Are My Data Rights? – The ICO provides guidance on data rights.
Employee Data Breach Claims – Here, you can find guidance on claiming against an employer.
Data Breach Claims Support – Get further guidance on data breaches here.
Cyber Security Protection – You can find information on protection here.
Action the ICO took – You can view more details of action the ICO took here.
Blackbaud Data Breach– Our guide to claiming for harm caused by a Blackbaud data breach.
Thank you for reading our guide to using data breach solicitors for Oldham claims.
