Data Has Been Breached By Work Claims Guide
If you have evidence that your personal data has been breached by your work, you might be able to make a claim. However, you must prove that your workplace’s failings caused the breach, and you must have suffered mentally or financially due to the breach.
In this guide, we will explain the data protection laws your workplace must follow when processing your personal data. We will also provide examples of how your personal information could be compromised in a data breach. Furthermore, we will provide examples of the evidence you could collect and steps you could take to help support your claim.
Additionally, you can contact one of our advisors today to discuss your potential claim. Our friendly team is available 24/7 to provide free advice and answer any questions you may have about starting a personal data breach claim.
Contact one of our advisors today by:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- Using our live chat.
- Or you can complete our ‘claim online’ form.
Select A Section
- Can I Claim If My Data Has Been Breached By Work?
- How Could My Data Be Breached In The Workplace?
- Evidence Showing My Data Has Been Breached By Work
- What Could I Claim For A Workplace Data Breach?
- Why Claim For A Workplace Data Breach With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
- Learn More About Data Breach Claims Against Employers
Can I Claim If My Data Has Been Breached By Work?
Personal data is any information that could identify you directly or in combination with other information. Your name, national insurance number, and home address are all examples of personal data.
Any organisation that processes your personal data must take all the necessary steps to protect it. Additionally, they must adhere to the rules and regulations set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
Your workplace must adhere to data protection laws as they process various types of your personal information. If your workplace were to fail to follow data protection law, this could result in your personal data being breached. A personal data breach is a security incident that impacts personal data’s availability, confidentiality or integrity.
You might be able to make a claim if your personal data has been breached by your work. However, you will need to prove that your workplace’s failings caused the breach and, as a result, you suffered mental harm or financial loss.
Time Limits
Additionally, you must ensure that your claim is started within the relevant time limits. For personal data breach claims, you will have 6 years to begin your claim. This time limit is reduced to 1 year if the claim is being made against a public body.
Contact one of our advisors today to see whether you have enough time to claim if your personal data has been breached by your work.
How Could My Data Be Breached In The Workplace?
As we have previously stated, in order to pursue a claim for a personal data breach, you must prove that your workplace failed to adhere to data protection laws. Some examples of how your personal data could be breached include:
- Your workplace failed to update its cybersecurity, resulting in your personal data being stolen in a cyber attack.
- Your employer sends a fax to the wrong person. This fax contained your personal data, resulting in an unauthorised person having access to it.
- A file containing your personal data was not properly locked or secured away, resulting in your data being lost or stolen.
Contact our advisors if your personal data has been breached by your work to see whether you could make a claim.
Evidence Showing My Data Has Been Breached By Work
To help support your chances of a successful claim, there are certain steps you could take and evidence you could collect. These could include:
- A confirmation letter or email that your data was involved in a breach. Usually, an organisation must inform you of the breach without undue delay if it infringes on your rights.
- Alternatively, if you have discovered the breach yourself, you should directly complain to the organisation responsible. You should also ask them to clarify what data was compromised.
- If you do not receive a satisfactory response from the organisation, you can escalate your complaint internally. You could report a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the independent public body that regulates data protection. They may decide to investigate the breach. Their findings could be used as evidence in your claim. However, wait no longer than 3 months after your last communication with your workplace over the data breach to ask the ICO to investigate.
- Additionally, you may also want to receive some advice before starting your claim. If so, you can contact our advisors today.
Contact our advisors today if you have any further questions about what evidence you could present to help support your claim.
What Could I Claim For A Workplace Data Breach?
Following a successful personal data breach claim, you could receive compensation for your psychological injuries, otherwise known as your non-material damage. For example, you could have suffered stress due to a data breach. However, you will need to provide evidence about your mental injury. This could be a copy of your medical records stating your diagnosis.
When valuing your psychological injury, a solicitor may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document lists compensation guidelines for various injuries at different severities. We have used the guidelines stated in the 16th edition of the JCG when creating the table below.
Please only refer to this table as a guide.
| Injury | Severity | Notes | Compensation Guidelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychologiacal Harm | Severe | A severely poor prognosis with the person seriously struggling with work, education, family and social life. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Psychologiacal Harm | Moderately Severe | A more optimistic prognosis than severe cases. However, the person will still suffer with significant issues mentioned above. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Psychologiacal Harm | Moderate | The person will make substantial improvements. The prognosis is good. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Psychologiacal Harm | Less Severe | Various factors, such as how much sleep was affected, will impact the amount awarded. | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| Anxiety Disorder | Severe | The person will be unable to function the same as before the trauma due to permanent issues. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| Anxiety Disorder | Moderately Severe | A better prognosis than severe cases, with space for some recovery. However, for the foreseeable future, they will still suffer with various problems. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| Anxiety Disorder | Moderate | A large recovery will have been made, and any persisting effects will not be significantly disabling. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| Anxiety Disorder | Less Severe | Within 1 to 2 years, a virtually complete recovery will have been made. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
Examples Of Other Damages You May Claim
Additionally, the financial losses you have suffered due to the personal data breach could be compensated. This is referred to as your material damage. For example, if your bank account information were to be breached, this could result in money being taken from that account.
To claim compensation for your material damage, you will need to provide evidence of it. Your bank or credit card statements could be used as evidence.
Contact one of our advisors today if you have any further questions, such as ‘How much compensation will I get for a data breach?’
Why Claim For A Workplace Data Breach With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
One of our friendly advisors could inform you whether you could make a personal data breach claim. If they believe you could, they may also offer to put you in contact with one of our solicitors who have years of experience handling data breach claims. Furthermore, if one of our solicitors agrees to take on your case, they may offer you a No Win No Fee agreement. (Your specific agreement may be referred to as a Conditional Fee agreement as this is a type of No Win No Fee).
When making a claim with a solicitor under this arrangement, some of the benefits include:
- Not having to pay your solicitor anything upfront for their services.
- Not having to pay your solicitor anything during the process of your claim for the service they are providing.
- If the claim fails, you will not have to pay them for the services they provided you.
- If the claim succeeds, you will pay them a legally capped percentage of your compensation award (a success fee).
Contact one of our advisors today to see whether you could make a claim if your personal data has been breached by your work.
Talk To Our Expert Team
You can contact one of our friendly advisors today to see whether you could make a claim if your personal data has been breached by your work. Our advisors are available to help you 24 hours a day. They could answer any questions about making a personal data breach claim. Additionally, they could provide you with free advice for your potential claim.
Contact one of our advisors today by:
- Calling 0800 073 8804
- Using our live chat.
- Or you can complete our ‘claim online’ form.
Learn More About Data Breach Claims Against Employers
More data breach articles by us:
- Disciplinary investigation at work data breach – can I claim compensation?
- Sickness at work personal information data breach compensation claims.
- My personal data has been lost after a breach, what are my rights?
Additional resources:
- ICO – Does an organisation need my consent?
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport – Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022.
- Mind – Types of mental health problems.
Contact our advisors to see whether you could make a claim if your personal data has been breached by your work.
