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Civil Nuclear Constabulary Data Breach – Can I Claim?
This article provides information on what you could do if you’ve been affected by a Civil Nuclear Constabulary data breach. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforces legislation including the updated version of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). This legislation enacted the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) into UK law.
The ICO can fine any organisation responsible for a data breach. However, they cannot award compensation if you’ve suffered because your information has been leaked in a data protection breach. Therefore, we’ll provide advice about taking action yourself in this guide.
Civil Nuclear Constabulary data breach claims guide
Because of these laws, if you are harmed by a data breach that might have been prevented, you could sue. Claims may be possible for any psychological suffering or any financial losses.
Legal Expert could help if you’ve been affected by a police data breach. Our advisors can review what’s happened during a free consultation on the phone.
Where the claim appears to be viable, you could be connected with a data breach solicitor from our team. If your case proceeds, you’ll benefit from a No Win No Fee service. This means you only need to pay for your solicitor’s work if compensation is awarded.
To discuss what you could do if affected by a data breach by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, please call on 0800 073 8804 or use our online form. To find out more about the claims process first, please continue reading.
Select a Section
- What Is Considered A Civil Nuclear Constabulary Data Breach?
- Could The Police Breach The Data Act?
- Civil Nuclear Constabulary Data Protection Breach Statistics
- A Guide On What To Do After A Civil Nuclear Constabulary Data Breach
- UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Amounts
- How To Make No Win No Fee Data Protection Breach Claims
- Get Help With A Data Breach Claim
What Is Considered A Civil Nuclear Constabulary Data Breach?
According to the ICO, personal data is defined in the UK GDPR as data that can be used to:
- Identify an individual (or data subject) directly; or
- Identify a data subject when combined with other information.
It could include data like names, ID numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, fingerprint data and other similar information.
Personal data breaches can be defined as security incidents that cause information relating to a data subject to be lost, disclosed, destroyed, altered or accessed unlawfully.
Being affected by a police data breach does not automatically entitle you to claim compensation. Instead, you’ll need to show that:
- It caused you to suffer mental harm. This could include distress, anxiety, depression and also Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
- The incident happened because of something the police force did or didn’t do.
If it can be shown that everything possible was done to protect your information, a Civil Nuclear Constabulary data breach claim would not be possible. To check what options are available to you, please call for free legal advice.
Could The Police Breach The Data Act?
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary has police officers and staff in England and Scotland. When processing personal data, they must do all they can to protect it. If a data breach occurs that they could have avoided, you could claim for any financial or mental harm you’ve experienced. This is the case whether the breach was deliberate and malicious or unintentional.
Here are some instances that could, therefore, lead to a claim:
- Where personal information is sent in a letter, fax or email to an unauthorised recipient.
- If unredacted personal data is published on a website.
- Where paperwork or portable devices containing personal data are accessed after being lost.
- Where staff with no reason to do so look up details about friends, family, neighbours or colleagues.
- If documentation (both physical and electronic) is not destroyed securely when no longer needed.
If you can prove you’ve suffered psychological injuries or financial losses because of a Civil Nuclear Constabulary data breach, please call to discuss your options.
Civil Nuclear Constabulary Data Protection Breach Statistics
In this section, we are going to provide some statistics revealed by a response to a Freedom of Information request we made to the Civil Nuclear Constabulary. We asked them to disclose information about any data breaches since 2019. Their response showed that:
- 3 data breaches have been reported to the ICO since 2019.
- The ICO did not issue any fines and didn’t take any further action.
- The breaches related to:
- Misdirected mail relating to pensions.
- Inadequate access controls on an internal shared network drive.
- Data loss because paperwork, laptops and warrant cards were stolen from a locked vehicle.
In each case, as the constabulary had conducted thorough investigations themselves.
A Guide On What To Do After A Civil Nuclear Constabulary Data Breach
If a Civil Nuclear Constabulary data breach is identified, those affected may need to be informed. This might be true if their rights and freedoms have been affected by the breach. You should retain any such correspondence informing you of a breach because it could be used as evidence to support your claim.
However, you may be wondering what you should do if you suspect a breach but have not had confirmation. For example, you may want to:
- Formally complain to the organisation responsible for your data. Where necessary, you should escalate the breach if you don’t agree with the response.
- Report the breach and ask the ICO to investigate on your behalf. You should get in touch within 3 months of your last meaningful communication with the organisation.
- Contact a data breach solicitor to discuss your options.
Importantly, you do not need to complain before speaking to a solicitor. Our No Win No Fee solicitors could negotiate an amicable settlement for you without ICO intervention.
Before calling, it may be a good idea to write down what you think has happened. Include a list of any financial problems you’ve endured. Also, detail any psychological harm you’ve suffered due to the breach so that you can discuss it with one of our advisors.
UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Amounts
Compensation awarded in data breach claims can include:
- Material damage. This part of your claim aims to recover any costs, monetary losses or expenses you’ve incurred because of a data breach.
- Non-material damage. Here you could claim for suffering caused by any depression, anxiety or stress that resulted from your data being exposed.
To illustrate how much could be claimed for non-material damages we’ve included the table below. We’ve used figures from the Judicial College.
These are guidelines that are usually used when valuing personal injury claims. However, a ruling in Gulati vs. MGN [2015] means that these same guidelines can also be used to help value non-material damages in data breach claims.
| Claim Type | Severity | Compensation Range | More Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Damage – Generally | Severe (a) | £51,460 to £108,620 | Significant suffering with these factors: dealing with life and work in general; maintaining relationships; future vulnerability. Also, the claimant probably won’t benefit from treatment meaning the prognosis will be very poor. |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £17,900 to £51,460 | A better prognosis but similar suffering as listed above initially. | |
| Moderate (c) | £5,500 to £17,900 | Significant suffering (as above) but with a good amount of recovery. | |
| PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe (a) | £56,180 to £94,470 | There won’t be any possibility that the claimant will be able to work or return to their previous way of life. |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £21,730 to £56,180 | The claimant should recover somewhat following significant initial suffering with professional help. | |
| Moderate (c) | £7,680 to £21,730 | While some minor symptoms may continue, the claimant will have largely recovered. |
To discuss your options following a Civil Nuclear Constabulary data breach, please call today. Our team of advisors can offer you free legal advice about claiming.
How To Make No Win No Fee Data Protection Breach Claims
To lower your financial risk when having a solicitor act on your behalf for a data breach claim, our solicitors offer a No Win No Fee service. Before accepting your case, though, they will check whether it has a reasonable chance of success. To do this they will review whether:
- A security breach has taken place, exposing your data; and
- The Civil Nuclear Constabulary’s actions (or lack of action) allowed the breach to happen; and
- As a result, you suffered financially or psychologically; and
- You’re starting the claim within the relevant time limits
A No Win No Fee agreement is an agreement between you and your lawyer that sets out what they need to achieve before asking you for payment. If they fail to secure you compensation, you won’t be expected to pay anything at all.
If there is a positive outcome to your claim, your solicitor will deduct a fixed percentage from your award. This is a success fee. The percentage you’ll pay is legally capped and you’ll be advised of it before the claim starts.
The time limit for data breach claims against public bodies is generally 1-year. However, claims against non-publicly funded organisations have as long as 6-years to be started. Our advice here is to check how long you have to claim by using live chat or calling our advisors.
Get Help With A Data Breach Claim
If you’d like free advice on what to do next, you can:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804.
- Send an email to info@legalexpert.co.uk.
- Use live chat to connect with a specialist.
- Complete our contact form to request a call from an advisor.
Additional Information
Data Correction – Explains how to ask an organisation to correct data because it is wrong.
Anxiety Quiz – An NHS tool to discover whether you’re suffering from anxiety.
Requesting Information – Guidance on how to find out what companies know about you.
Social Services Data Breaches – Explains the claims process for GDPR breaches in social services.
Claims Against Employers – Advice on what to do if you’re affected by a data breach at work.
Blackbaud Data Breach– Information on the steps to take if your personal data was exposed by Blackbaud.
Other Guides That May Be Helpful
- Foster Care Data Breach Claims
- Sickness At Work Data Breach Compensation Claims
- UK GDPR Breach Compensation Claims
- Child Custody Data Breach Claims
- Estate Agent Data Breach Claims
Thank you for reading this article about the steps you could take if harmed because of a Civil Nuclear Constabulary data breach.
Written by Hambridge
Edited by Stocks
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