If you’ve suffered harm due to a passport data breach, you may be eligible to claim. This guide will explain what a personal data breach is and the steps you need to take to start your claim.
Passport data breach claims guide
A breach of passport details can negatively affect you in multiple ways. This article will discuss these effects and injuries in more detail, alongside examples of compensation brackets that may relate to your case.
Our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors could assist you with your claim. Read on to learn how Conditional Fee Agreements (CFA) could fund expert legal representation for your claim. Or you can contact our team using the following details:
- Call us on the number above
- Fill out the contact form
- Message us through the live chat feature
Choose A Section
- What is a Passport Data Breach?
- How Can Your Personal Data Be Part of a Data Breach?
- What Should I Do After a Passport Data Breach?
- What Compensation Could I Receive From a Data Breach?
- No Win No Fee Solicitors – What are the Benefits of Using Them?
- More Information About Making a Claim for a Passport Data Breach
What is a Passport Data Breach?
A personal data breach is a security incident that affects the confidentiality, security, or availability of your personal data. Data controllers are organisations responsible for deciding how or why your data is processed. Data processors process this information on the behalf of data controllers.
Legislation is in place to hold data controllers and data processors accountable when handling the personal data of UK residents. The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) are the two main pieces of legislation.
You can make a passport data breach claim if you can prove that you’ve suffered from material or non-material damage and that the breach was a result of the controller or processor’s failings. We will discuss these damages further in this guide.
It is important to consider time limitations when making a personal data breach claim. The general time limit for starting a personal data breach claim is six years. However, the time limit for claiming against a public body claims is up to one year.
Contact us today for more advice regarding time limitations and the passport data breach claim process.
How Can Your Personal Data Be Part of a Data Breach?
You may be wondering what personal data is, and how it can relate to your passport. Personal data is information that can identify you, including some information featured on your passport. For example, your:
- Name
- Postal address
- Post code
- Date of birth
There is also a type of personal data called special category data. This needs extra protection according to data protection law, and includes information that could be found in your passport, such as your racial or ethnic origin.
Personal data breaches can occur through criminal means such as cybercrime or through human error. Human error can affect both digital and physical data. For a passport data breach, some examples may include:
- Emailing personal passport information to the wrong recipient
- Revealing personal information from your passport over the phone to an unauthorised person
- Failing to redact passport details before sharing them
- Leaving filing cabinets unlocked and increasing the risk of theft of passports or passport scans
- Sending passport information to the wrong postal address
Contact our advisors to find out, you could be eligible to make a claim for data breach compensation.
What Should I Do After a Passport Data Breach?
When your data is breached, the organisation responsible may inform you of the occurrence. However, if they do not notify you, you can contact the organisation and request more information.
If there is no satisfactory response within three months, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who can investigate the breach. The ICO are an independent body that upholds personal data protection legislation.
Our advisors can offer you free legal advice to help you with any queries you may have. Contact us today to find out if you could claim compensation.
What Compensation Could I Receive From a Data Breach?
If you’re suffering from distress following a passport data breach, you can claim non-material damage. This compensates you for any psychological injuries you’ve sustained following the breach of your personal data. Injuries can include Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and anxiety.
Following the Court of Appeal case of Vidal-Hall and Others v Google Inc (2015), the court ruled that you no longer need to claim for financial losses in order to claim psychological damages.
The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) indicate how much compensation you could potentially receive from a non-material damage claim. Legal professionals have used the JCG to value personal injury and data breach claims. The table below some examples of compensation brackets from the JCG.
| Injury | Compensation | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Psychiatric Damage | £54,830 - £115,730 | Poor prognosis due to significant issues coping with daily life. |
| Moderately Severe Psychiatric Damage | £19,070 - £54,830 | Prognosis is much more optimistic but significant problems persist regarding the struggle to cope with life and relationships. |
| Moderate Psychiatric Damage | £5,860 - £19,070 | Symptoms show significant improvement by the time of trial. |
| Less Severe Psychiatric Damage | £1,540 - £5,860 | The level of award depends on the length of the disability period and the extent of effect on daily activities. |
| Severe PTSD | £59,860 - £100,670 | The injured person will be unable to function at a pre-trauma level and be unable to work. All aspects of life are affected in these cases. |
| Moderately Severe PTSD | £23,150 - £59,860 | A better prognosis can be achieved with professional help though significant disability continues into the future. |
| Moderate PTSD | £8,180 - £23,150 | The injured person will be able to mostly recover with some continuing effects. |
| Less Severe PTSD | £3,950 - £8,180 | Virtual recovery can be made within one to two years with some minor symptoms persisting. |
The information in the table above is a guideline. It may not reflect the complex details of each individual claim. Contact our advisors for a free assessment of what your claim could be worth.
What Else Could I Claim For After A Passport Data Breach?
You can also claim compensation for material damage after a personal data breach. For example, you may have lost money from your bank account due to theft. A passport data breach could lead to identity fraud, which can in turn lead to substantial financial losses. This refers to any financial losses as a result of the breach.
If you need advice following a data protection breach, our advisors can provide you with free legal support.
No Win No Fee Solicitors – What are the Benefits of Using Them?
You may be interested in working with a No Win No Fee solicitor for your passport data breach claim. When working under a CFA, your solicitor will not require any fees upfront. They will only deduct a legally-capped success fee from your settlement total in the event of your claim’s success. If your claim is unsuccessful, you do not pay this fee.
Our panel of data breach solicitors offer legal representation on a No Win No Fee basis. To find out how a solicitor from our panel could help you begin the claims process, contact our advisors today.
Want to See If You Can Claim? Contact us for a Free Consultation.
Our advisors are available 24 hours a day to offer you free legal advice. If you have any queries regarding starting a personal data breach claim, contact us today by:
- Using the contact form
- Talk to an advisor instantly using the Live Chat feature
- Call us on the number at the top of the page
More Information about Claiming for a Passport Data Breach
For more helpful resources:
Or you can discover more of our data breach guides below:
- Trade Union Membership Data Breach – Am I Able to Claim?
- Mortgage Broker Data Breach – Can I Claim Compensation?
- To learn more about the Southern Water data breach, which is said to have impacted around 500,000 people, head here. You can learn all about the eligibility criteria and claims process.
- Disciplinary Records Data Breach – Could I Make A Claim?
Contact our advisors today to learn more about making a passport data breach claim.
Writer Jess Allen
Editor Cat Harley