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Swansea City Council Data Breach Claims

Welcome to our guide examining what procedures may be needed should a Swansea City Council data breach occur and affect your personal information. The council is legally responsible for the security of your personal data. Under law, they must protect any information that they hold on you that can identify you. This guide shall assess the eligibility criteria for data breach claims.

Swansea City Council data breach claims guide

Swansea City Council data breach claims guide

The important thing to remember, however, is that your claim will certainly have some unique aspects. Subsequently, we may not have answered every question you may have. The number of possible circumstances that could result in a claim is too numerous to be included on one page. Nevertheless, we can still answer your questions. Our claims team can be reached at 0800 073 8804. You can reach us through this phone line 24 hours a day, seven days a week. An advisor is available to answer any questions you have. They can also provide you with information about how we can help you begin the claims process.

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A Guide To Claims For A Swansea City Council Data Breach

In this guide, we provide you with information on data protection laws, how data breaches may occur and who would be eligible to pursue a claim for compensation. The information we provide to you will enable you to make educated choices about your case.

The guide starts with a graph illustrating data security incidents that have occurred in central government. A fundamental explanation of a data breach follows this. We also discuss applicable laws and the types of personal data they protect.

Our next step is to look at the responsibilities of local authorities in protecting data. In our examples, we’ve shown how data can be compromised if these legal obligations are not met.

Our next topic covers the process of reporting and complaining about a data breach. This will also include the appropriate steps to initiate the claims process. A section on financial considerations will be included as well. In particular, we discuss why damages might be claimed, as well as provide an example compensation table. Furthermore, an explanation of No Win No Fee agreements is provided.

We give some basic advice in the final sections of this guide on starting your claim. Furthermore, we have provided some helpful links and answered some frequently asked questions about data breaches.

Claim Time Limits

There is a time limit for filing a claim for a data protection breach.

The time limit for filing a data breach claim is generally six years. In the case of a data breach claim against a public body, however, a one-year deadline is applicable.

In addition to these factors, there are others that can influence the deadline. It would be best if you contacted our claims team and explained your situation. Our representatives would be able to tell you what the applicable deadline is.

Statistics On Causes Of Breaches Of Data Privacy

In this section, we will provide a graph that shows the causes of data incidents in local government. This graph was created using data from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We will discuss the ICO further down this page. In the meantime, we have used one of the ICO’s publicly available datasets to create this graph.

Local Government Non-Cyber Data Security Incidents

Local Government Non-Cyber Data Security Incidents

What Could Be A Swansea City Council Data Breach?

We will see in the following sections that specific types of personal data are protected under UK law. Your local council has a legal obligation to obey all of the legislation relating to this matter. Furthermore, compliance is policed by the ICO. In the event that compliance protocols are not followed, your data may be subjected to unlawful access or use. To prevent a Swansea City Council data breach from occurring councils will put in place procedures for protecting your personal data.

You could suffer trauma, stress, or mental harm due to unauthorised access to your data. Additionally, it could lead to significant financial losses in some cases. Both of these eventualities may give you the right to claim. You, however, will be responsible for proving the validity of your claim. In order for you to gain a successful resolution, you will need to demonstrate that the data controller, the entity that collects your data, didn’t protect your data properly. This would be necessary to make a claim. Our claim advisors can provide you with more information regarding the viability of your claim. Just give them a call, any time of the day or night.

Laws And Regulations

Until Brexit, the UK followed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which was drafted by the European Union (EU). It has changed now though, and the UK-specific GDPR takes effect. There are also other regulations that apply, such as the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

Types Of Protected Data

The UK GDPR does not cover all types of data. Only certain types that are potentially exploitable are protected. In particular, personal data and data that is deemed to be “special category” are covered. Please see below for more information.

  • Data that relates directly to you is called personal data. Data that is uniquely yours in some way. You could include your date of birth, name and address, along with your phone number, for example. You can also include financial information such as your bank account number and credit card details.
  • Data in the special category is all indicative data. These are details that may identify you, or tell things about you, but are not necessarily unique. Special data may include data about your genome, your religious beliefs, or your trade union membership, as examples. It can also consist of something like medical or financial records.

If a Swansea City Council data breach occurred that affected your rights and freedoms you would be informed about this. Also, the ICO must be informed within 72 hours. Not all data breaches will mean those affected will qualify for compensation. You must first prove that those you hold responsible for the data exposure failed to adequately protect your information.

GDPR Compliance For Local Authorities

Generally, organisations that stores and processes your personal information must comply with UK GDPR. Below is information about each of the seven pillars of GDPR.

  • Keep personal data secure.
  • Maintaining accuracy
  • Your data should be kept for a limited amount of time.
  • The type of data stored about you should be limited in terms of volume.
  • While storing or processing your data, the council must act lawfully, fairly, and transparently.
  • Data controllers must comply with these principles
  • Purpose limitation

The Most Common Types Of Data Protection Breaches

Data protection policies for local councils must protect the personal information you provide. To prevent a Swansea City Council data breach it is vital that employees are trained so they have data awareness also there must be a robust online security system.

Below we have listed sample scenarios of how data breaches may occur;

  • When physical files containing your data are incorrectly disposed of, this results in a data protection breach.
  • Cybercriminals could exploit a vulnerability in cyber security, network security or, computer security. This puts your information at risk of being misused or accessed by unauthorised persons. And also the risk of being used fraudulently.
  • A third party is given your personal information but has no authority to view it.
  • Email data breaches occur when an employee sends your personal information to someone who shouldn’t have access to it.

It may not always be clear whether a data breach has occurred or if it has affected your personal data. In the sections below we explain how you may be informed if a data breach has leaked your information.

Social Housing Record Data Breaches

As a result of dealings with Social Services, or people who live in public housing, the council accumulates a large amount of data. Such information should be protected.

Here is a list of potential examples of how this data stored on you could be leaked;

  • When your rent statement history is sent to the wrong address.
  • Similarly, scans of tenancy audit documents could be left open on a computer screen where anyone can see them.
  • Social Services data breach exposes information about your family or yourself to an unauthorised party.
  • A landlord is sent copies of tenancy documents, but your personal data and details were not redacted. Consequently, your landlord gains access to some of your data when they are not supposed to.

Please call and discuss your case with our advisors to get your claim underway.

ICO Complaints About Data Breaches

In this section, we will cover what you could do should a Swansea City Council data breach occur that affects your personal data.  In the first instance, you may wish to contact a Swansea City Council Data Protection Officer (DPO). Some councils may not have a DPO, or they may have more than one. It is possible to ask the DPO whether there has been a data breach. They should be able to tell you if any unauthorised parties have accessed your data as well.

Next, you could contact the ICO. The ICO conducts investigations into data breaches as part of its role in administering UK data protection laws. A report must be made within three months of the last meaningful contact with the data controller.

What Steps Should I Take After My Data Has Been Leaked, Stolen Or Breached?

If you suspect a Swansea City Council data breach then you can contact the data protection officer at the council and ask them if a data breach has occurred. If a data breach has occurred that affects your rights then the council will make contact with you and provide information on the situation.

You can ask the council how the data breach has happened, what information has been compromised and how they are resolving the situation. It may be that you have to protect yourself by changing passwords, getting new bank cards and keeping your eye out for any suspicious activity. Our claims team is available to assist you in this matter. Call our claims team today. Through a free no-obligation chat let our advisors assess your case. Afterwards, they can give you advice on the best next steps for you.

Compensation For Breaches In Data Protection

If you make a successful data breach claim you could be entitled to claim two types of damages. Firstly material damages. You may suffer significant losses if your data is accessed and used fraudulently. An example would be if cybercriminals stole your digital identity and used it to spend your bank balance and use your credit cards online. Aside from this, the claims process itself will involve costs. Your solicitor, for instance, may need to receive documents from you via courier, which you would need to pay for. These monetary losses may be recouped in either case.

Secondly, there is non-material damages. You might be eligible to receive compensation for stress, psychological hardship and mental trauma. The aftermath of a data breach can be highly traumatic. The situation is even direr if you discover yourself facing thousands of pounds of new debt as a result of the data breach. It is possible to claim for stress-induced mental trauma. The precedent for this was set in a case heard at the Court of Appeal in 2015. This was Vidal-Hall and others v Google, Inc. Even though the claimants did not suffer any monetary loss, they were still eligible to receive compensation for psychological injuries. It is possible for you to receive compensation for psychological injuries as well, based on this precedent.

How To Calculate Claims For A Swansea City Council Data Breach

There will be something unique about each data breach claim. It is impossible to give a general compensation amount that you might win. If you’re interested in figuring out how much compensation you might receive, try our compensation calculator. Or, use this sample compensation table as a reference. It was developed based on the Judicial College guidelines. This is a publication that lists injuries and bracket figures that were comprised using court settlements in personal injury and medical negligence cases.

Edit
Level of Damage Mental Condition Likely Damages Additional Facts
Severe Psychiatric damage £51,460 – £108,620 This is a category of severe mental harm. The most common cause is repeated trauma. Victims would be severely impacted by these symptoms. There is more than likely to be a significant level of mental health problems even after the victim recovers.
Moderate Psychiatric damage £5,500 – £17,900 This category includes moderate mental harm. Such harm may result from trauma. An individual’s life quality would be impacted by these symptoms. Even after recovery, the victim may continue to have some minor mental health problems.
Moderately severe Psychiatric damage £17,900 – £51,460 Moderately severe mental harm. A traumatic event probably contributed to this. A victim’s quality of life would be significantly affected by the symptoms. A mental health issue is almost certain to remain after the victim’s rehabilitation.
Less severe Psychiatric damage Up to £5,500 In this bracket, the mental injury is less severe. Typically, it results from a traumatic or shocking experience. The symptoms are likely to have a minor effect on an individual’s quality of life. Almost all of the victim’s mental health issues will be gone after the recovery process.

Data Breach Solicitors And No Win No Fee Agreements

If you have ever heard of the phrase No Win No Fee, you probably know what it basically means. Advertising for personal injury claims frequently promotes these types of legal agreements. However, you can also contract a solicitor under a No Win No Fee agreement to assist you in making a data breach claim.

There is no upfront fee for the solicitor to begin the claims process. Nor would there be any ongoing fees collected while the claim is being processed. Unless the claim succeeds, your lawyer will not receive a fee. Should your claim succeed, you will likely need to pay a small fee to your solicitor. It can be collected out of any payment the lawyer is sent for you.

Finding A Specialist Data Protection Solicitor

Should a Swansea City Council data breach occur that affects your personal data Legal Expert can help. The choice is yours whether you instruct a solicitor to work on your case. You have the option of making the claim by yourself. But, please bear in mind that data breach solicitors will have the skillset and experience to successfully file these types of claims.

Our claims team will help you begin the claim process once you’ve explained your situation to them. You will be guided through the entire process. They can help arrange for a lawyer to start processing your claim if it’s viable. Give them a call today.

Contact An Expert About Your Case

To conclude, thank you for reading this guide about what could potentially constitute a Swansea City Council data breach. We can help with whatever you need. Simply contact us using the details below. Our team is ready and waiting to assist.

Telephone: 0800 073 8804

Use our webchat or fill in a contact request.

Further Tools And Resources

Here are some additional external links that you may find useful.

Please review the following helpful guides for more information.

FAQs

Here are some simple, short answers to the kinds of questions about a data breach that you may have.

Does there need to be a criminal prosecution?

No, you will be bringing a civil case against the data controller.

Who else do I have to report my data breach to?

You may optionally, report a data breach to the ICO. However, making a claim is not dependant upon this.

What evidence do I need to show?

That your personal data was breached, along with any medical reports that show how you suffered and financial documentation such as bank statements to show loss of finances.

Guide By Wheeler

Edited By Melissa.

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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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