By Stephen Yutani. Last Updated 18th September 2024. This guide will explore the options you have if your personal data was compromised in a police data breach. As a data controller, those who decide on the purpose for processing, the police have a responsibility to keep your personal data safe. We will explore the data protection legislation in place that outlines their responsibilities throughout this guide.
This guide also discusses what a data breach is, how one could occur and when you might be eligible to seek compensation for a data breach.
Please continue reading for more information. Alternatively, you can contact our team of advisors for more information. They are available to provide you with free advice regarding data breach claims.
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Choose A Section
- Police Data Breach – What Is It?
- How Can A Data Breach Occur?
- What Should I Do If My Data Was Involved In A Police Data Breach?
- What Potential Compensation Could I Receive From A Data Breach?
- No Win No Fee Solicitors – What Are The Benefits?
- Learn More About What You Can Do After A Police Data Breach
Police Data Breach – What Is It?
A data breach refers to a security incident which can involve your personal data being destroyed, altered or lost either accidentally or unlawfully. It can also involve your personal data being disclosed or accessed without authorisation. Personal data is any personal information that is able to identify you either directly or in combination with other pieces of information, such as your name, telephone number, and personal email address.
The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) as well as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) both set out the responsibilities of data controllers plus the data processors to protect your personal data. A data controller sets the purpose for processing and can process the data themselves. A data processor acts on behalf of the controller. Both must adhere to data protection laws.
If they fail to do so, it could mean your personal data ends up being compromised in a data breach. This could lead to you experiencing financial loss or psychological harm. In these cases, you could have valid grounds to seek out compensation.
To learn about what actions you could take after a police data breach compromised your personal data, get in touch with us today.
How Can A Data Breach Occur?
Organisations can hold physical and digital personal data about you in paper files or hard drives. This means that a data breach could happen due to a cyber attack, as well as human error. A cyber security incident can involve an organisation failing to update its cyber security systems making them more susceptible to an attack, such as a ransomware attack or phishing scam.
Some examples of how your personal data could be breached due to human error are:
- Someone emailed your personal data to the wrong person in an email data breach.
- Someone sent details about a report you made to the police to the wrong postal address.
- Someone disclosed information about your criminal record verbally without authorisation to do so.
- Files containing a witness statement you gave weren’t disposed of or destroyed properly.
In order to receive data breach compensation, you must prove that the breach occurred due to the organisation’s failings and that you experienced monetary loss or emotional harm as a result.
To find out what steps you could take after a police data breach compromised your personal data, please get in touch with us online or on the phone. An advisor can help you understand whether you’re eligible to seek compensation.
What Should I Do If My Data Was Involved In A Police Data Breach?
You may be wondering ‘what should I do if police breached my data? There are several different steps you and the organisation can take. Firstly, you can get in touch with the organisation directly if you have concerns that personal data of yours has been affected by a breach.
If they fail to respond or they don’t respond adequately, you could notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is an independent body that was set up to uphold information rights. They may investigate your report, however, they cannot award compensation. If they do investigate, the findings from their assessment could later be used as evidence that supports your potential police data breach claim.
The organisation must inform you without undue delay if your rights and freedoms have been impacted. They are also required to notify the ICO within 72 hours of the data breach happening.
For more information on what steps could be taken if your personal information was compromised in a police data breach, get in touch with our advisors today.
What Potential Compensation Could I Receive From A Data Breach?
Any mental suffering you endure due to a personal data breach is considered non-material damage within data breach claims. This can include depression, anxiety, or distress. Compensation can be provided for non-material damage within your settlement if your claim succeeds.
In the table below, we have included compensation brackets for different types of psychological injuries. These figures are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
Those involved in supporting a data breach claim may check the JCG to determine the value of non-material damage as part of a claim. Please only use the following figures as a guideline though as how much you receive is likely to depend on the specific circumstances of your case.
| Type of Harm | Notes | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Psychological Harm And Financial Losses | If you have suffered severe psychiatric harm as well as financial losses due to a personal data breach, then your compensation payout could cover both of these things. | Up to £250,000+ |
| Psychiatric Damage (Generally) | Severe (a) - The person will have significant issues coping with life, education, work and their relationships. They have a prognosis which is very poor. | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Psychiatric Damage (Generally) | Moderately Severe (b) - The person has significant issues with different areas of their life but they have a better prognosis. | £23,270 to £66,920 |
| Psychiatric Damage (Generally) | Moderate (c) - The person will have experienced significant issues with different aspects of their life but they will have made a significant improvement and will have a good prognosis. | £7,150 to £23,270 |
| Psychiatric Damage (Generally) | Less Severe (d) - The amount awarded will consider the time the person suffered and how the harm impacted various activities. | £1,880 to £7,150 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe (a) - There will be lasting effects, and the person will struggle to live the same as they did before the trauma. | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderately Severe (b) - There will be the potential for recovery with help from a medical professional. | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderate (c) - There will have been a large recovery, and any persisting symptoms won’t majorly affect the person’s life. | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Less Severe (d) - A practically full recovery will happen within a year or two. | £4,820 to £9,980 |
What Else Could I Claim For After A Personal Data Breach?
You could also receive compensation for material damage. Material damage relates to the financial losses caused by the data breach. This could include money taken from your bank account, charges made on your credit card, and loans taken out in your name.
Providing records of these losses can act as evidence when claiming compensation for material damage.
Please speak with our advisors to ask whether you are eligible to seek compensation after having your personal data compromised in a police data breach.
No Win No Fee Solicitors – What Are The Benefits?
Our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors can support valid cases under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). If you do make a police data breach claim under a CFA, you won’t need to make a payment to your solicitor for their services before your case has started or while it’s being processed. Also, you normally won’t be obliged to make payments to your solicitor for their work in the event that the claim is not successful.
If the claim does succeed, then your solicitor will receive payment through what’s called a success fee. That means that they’ll take a small percentage of the compensation given to you. The percentage they can take has a legal cap, which is included to make sure that you will get to keep most of your police data breach compensation.
For more advice about claiming with the support of a No Win No Fee solicitor, please contact us today either online or by calling us. You can also ask our advisors any other questions you may want to ask about the claiming process. To speak with our team today, you can:
- Call us on 020 8050 3051
- Use our contact form online.
- Speak to an advisor through our live chat option.
Learn More About What You Can Do After A Police Data Breach
For more data breach articles by us:
- HR department data breach – can I claim?
- Pharmacy data breach – can I claim compensation?
- Passport data breach – can I claim compensation?
For more information:
- National Cyber Security Centre has provided tips for how to stay safe online
- ICO – What are ‘controllers’ and ‘processors’?
- ICO – Individual rights
Please speak with our advisors for advice regarding what you can do if your personal data was affected by a police data breach.