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Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Data Breach Compensation Claim

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is an independent organisation responsible for prosecuting criminals in England and Wales. However, over the last few years, the CPS has experienced a number of data breaches. Causes range from unauthorised disclosure to failures in data handling, and subsequently, this has compromised the personal information of thousands of people.

In this article, we’ll provide you with our expert advice on how you could secure the compensation that you deserve by making a claim. To do so, we’ll help you understand your rights in the wake of a data breach and how you could seek to hold the CPS liable for their failings that led to your personal information being compromised.

Alternatively, by getting in touch with our team at Legal Expert today, one of our specialist advisors could explain all of this to you as part of a free consultation. Available to take your call 24/7, they’re always on hand to answer any queries that you may have and offer impartial advice on your circumstances.

If your claim has good prospects of success, our solicitors will get right to work on your case on a No Win No Fee basis. Given their years of experience in the claims process, our solicitors know what it takes to make a successful claim and could help you win the compensation that you deserve. If they fail to do so, then you don’t have to pay them a penny as part of your agreement, removing any sense of financial risk in making a claim.

So, if you’d like to learn more about the services that we could offer you or you’d like to receive a free consultation about your data breach, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at Legal Expert today:

Crown Prosecution Service data breach claims guide

Select A Section

  1. What Is A Data Breach Claim Against The Crown Prosecution Service?
  2. Data Protection And GDPR Responsibilities At The CPS
  3. How The Crown Prosecution Service Could Breach Data Privacy
  4. Examples Of Data Breaches By The Crown Prosecution Service
  5. How To Report A Public Body To The Information Commissioners’ Office
  6. How Could The Process Of Claiming Compensation Work?
  7. How You Could Be Compensated For the Impact Of A Data Breach
  8. No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims Against Crown Prosecution Service
  9. How Our Simple Claims Process Works
  10. Begin Your Claim
  11. Supporting Resources

What Is A Data Breach Claim Against The Crown Prosecution Service?

Data refers to any personal details that could be used to identify you either directly or indirectly, such as your name, address and contact details.

If any of your data is handled in a way that you haven’t consented to, then this is a security incident known as a data breach. Whether your data is accessed, disclosed, leaked or lost without your authorisation, having your privacy compromised can be deeply distressing and could create lasting issues.

Data Protection And GDPR Responsibilities At The CPS

In 2018, the UK enacted the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) into its legislation to encourage transparency in data processing and give subjects more control over how their data is used by organisations like the Crown Prosecution Service.

This follows the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), of which some key regulations include:

  • The right to know how your data is collected and used by an organisation
  • The right to request what data an organisation has on you
  • The right to change inaccurate data that an organisation has on you
  • The right to stop your data being processed by an organisation if you’re unhappy with how they’re using it
  • The right to restrict how your data is used by an organisation

How The Crown Prosecution Service Could Breach Data Privacy

Over the past few years, the Crown Prosecution Service has experienced a number of data breaches. Causes ranged from unauthorised disclosure to failures in data handling, and subsequently, the personal information of thousands of people was compromised.

Some possible causes related to human error include:

  • Data being improperly encrypted or redacted
  • Data insecurely stored, leaving it susceptible to loss or damage
  • Data sent to the wrong recipient

Alternatively, data breaches can be the result of a cyberattack. In these cases, hackers target databases in attempts to steal data, using it for purposes of ransom, theft or identity fraud.

Whatever the circumstances of your data breach, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today if you can prove that the CPS’s failings were to blame and you’d like legal advice on taking action.

Examples Of Data Breaches By The Crown Prosecution Service

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is an independent organisation responsible for prosecuting criminals in England and Wales.

However, over the last few years, the CPS has suffered numerous data breaches. Causes range from unauthorised disclosure to failures in data handling. Much of the data was of an extremely sensitive nature.

In this section, we’ll explore some case studies of past data breaches suffered by the CPS to help illustrate how they can occur and what action can be taken to prevent future incidents from happening.

2018: CPS Loses Police Recordings

In 2017, the CPS discovered that they had experienced a data breach involving the loss of sensitive police recordings.

According to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent organisation that regulates how UK organisations comply with data protection laws, the CPS demonstrated the following failures that led to this incident:

  • They attempted to send the DVDs via postal service
  • The recipient’s office was in a building of multiple occupancies
  • No tamper-proof packaging was used
  • The delivery wasn’t made within office hours
  • The package was left in the reception of the recipient’s building, meaning anyone with access could have taken it

The recordings were unencrypted and in DVD form, meaning they could be easily watched without proper authorisation. The content of the recordings was of an extremely sensitive nature, as they contained video footage of interviews with child sex abuse victims as part of a criminal investigation.

In addition to the nature of the details exposed in these recordings being intimate and personal, identifying information was revealed, including that of the perpetrator. This meant that the data breach also had the potential to endanger people’s safety.

For their negligence that led to this data breach, the CPS was issued a fine of £325,000 by the ICO. According to the ICO’s findings, the CPS failed to properly safeguard the DVDs, evidencing their negligence to the distress that the loss of them would cause.

Source: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2018/05/cps-fined-325-000-after-losing-victim-interview-videos

‘CPS Guilty of Routinely Causing “Serious” Data Breaches’

In 2020, independent watchdogs reviewed the CPS’s data protection practices. Their findings showed prosecutors to be guilty of causing “serious” data breaches that have the potential to endanger members of the public’s safety.

Out of 700 CPS cases that were investigated, 98 reportedly saw a security breach, including:

  • Disclosing the address of someone who reported a crime
  • Disclosing personal details of a witness
  • Disclosing unredacted medical records of a victim

The review showed that the CPS failed to provide staff with consistent guidance to ensure that they are appropriately handling data, such as informing them what type of material needs to be redacted in case files. Furthermore, the staff reported that they found the little guidance that they did receive to be ‘complex’ and ‘difficult’ to follow.

In response to these findings, the CPS released a statement emphasising its determination to provide a more stringent system of data protection, implementing more staff training amongst other measures to prevent further data breaches.

Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/crown-prosecution-service-guilty-of-serious-data-breaches-k7vhl0hnf

Whatever the circumstances of your Crown Prosecution Service data breach, if you can prove the breach happened and the harm caused, please speak to one of our advisors today to see how we could help you.

How To Report A Public Body To The Information Commissioners’ Office

If you report your Crown Prosecution Service data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), their findings could help evidence your claim.

The ICO is an independent organisation that regulates compliance with data protection laws. If they investigate your data breach, they could find the CPS liable for breaching data protection laws, which could be used to support your claim against them.

However, please note:

  • The ICO doesn’t provide compensation
  • The ICO’s findings can’t guarantee the outcome of your claim

How Could The Process Of Claiming Compensation Work?

In the section above, we outlined how you could report your Crown Prosecution Service data breach to the ICO in attempts to evidence your claim.

Another means of establishing liability to help support your claim could be to contact the CPS directly. In voicing your concerns to them about your data breach, you could detail how you’ve been impacted by your personal information being compromised and express the extent of your suffering.

In response, there’s a chance that the CPS could offer to compensate you. However, regardless of whether they do, any response could still be used against them if it contains an admission of their failures. Therefore, this is typically a step worth taking to help you secure the compensation that you deserve.

How You Could Be Compensated For the Impact Of A Data Breach

There are two types of damages that you could be compensated for as part of your Crown Prosecution Service data breach claim:

  • Material damage can be claimed to recover financial loss caused by your data breach
  • Non-material damage can be claimed to account for mental distress caused by your data breach

You must be able to evidence any damage that you’ve experienced or you risk not being awarded the compensation that you deserve. For non-material damage, your solicitor can arrange a medical assessment to determine the extent of your suffering. Please see the next section for more information or speak to one of our advisors today.

No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims Against Crown Prosecution Service

If you have grounds to make a Crown Prosecution Service data breach claim, we can connect you with one of our solicitors to help win your case for you on a No Win No Fee basis. If they fail to do so, then you don’t have to pay them a penny as part of your agreement, removing any sense of financial risk from making a claim.

As part of a No Win No Fee agreement, claimants can also expect to benefit from the following clauses:

  • No upfront costs
  • No hidden fees

In the case that your solicitor is successful in winning your claim for you, you’ll pay them a fee to cover their legal costs known as a ‘success fee’. This is a small percentage of your compensation that’s noted in your agreement, so you know how much of your payout you’ll have to allocate to your solicitor before you sign anything. This way, there are no surprises as part of your agreement and you can take away most of your payout.

Please continue reading to learn more about our services or get in touch with one of our advisors today to see how we could help you.

How Our Simple Claims Process Works

In having a solicitor handle your Crown Prosecution Service data breach claim for you, their expertise can help secure you the compensation that you deserve. However, the task of selecting a solicitor can be daunting.

You could compare online reviews to see what clients had to say about the service they received, ask your inner circle for their recommendations or search your local area for a law firm near you.

However, unlike many other services, the legal system can function virtually, with technology allowing solicitors to link up with clients remotely. This means that regardless of where you are, you could have one of our solicitors at Legal Expert handle your claim for you.

With years of experience in the claims process and knowledge of what it takes to make a successful claim, why not get in touch today to see how our solicitors could help you win the compensation that you deserve? For more information, please continue reading or head over to our reviews page to see how our clients rate our service.

Begin Your Claim

By getting in touch with our team at Legal Expert today, one of our advisors could offer you a free consultation to provide you with an expert assessment of your potential Crown Prosecution Service data breach case. Available to take your call 24/7, they’re always on hand to answer any queries that you may have and offer impartial advice on your circumstances.

If your case has good prospects of success, our team of solicitors could offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. Given their years of experience in the claims process, our solicitors know what it takes to make a successful claim and could help you win the compensation that you deserve. If they fail to do so, then you don’t have to pay them a penny as part of your agreement, removing any sense of financial risk from making a claim.

So, if you’d like to learn more about the services that we could offer you or you’d like to receive a free consultation about your data breach, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at Legal Expert today:

Supporting Resources

You’ve made it to the end of our guide to Crown Prosecution Service data breach claims.

Our team at Legal Expert wish you every success in your pursuit of compensation and want to reiterate that if you would like more information, get in touch for a free consultation with our team.

In the meantime, we’ve provided below some extra guides; they could be of use to you.

Some of our other claims guides:

Extra resources:

  • What data does a company have of mine? – if you’re interested in learning what data the Crown Prosecution Service holds on you, this guide talks you through the process of how to do so.
  • Report a data breach – if you want to report a data breach to the ICO, this guide walks you through the process.

Other Useful Compensation Guides

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    • Patrick Mallon legal expert author

      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.

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