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Blackpool Borough Council Data Breach Claims

Throughout this guide, we are going to look at the actions that could be taken should a Blackpool Borough Council data breach occur. We will look at the types of data breach compensation that can be awarded in successful claims and how a No Win No Fee policy can be used to fund a solicitor’s service.

Blackpool Borough Council data breach claims guide

Blackpool Borough Council data breach claims guide

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, organisations, including the council, must have procedures in place to protect the personal information they hold.

In this guide, we will look at why you may be able to make a data breach claim if your personal information has been unlawfully used.

You can reach our team at 0800 073 8804 for more information. Read on for more details about how you may be able to make a data breach claim for compensation. An adviser can let you know if your case is valid and whether you could seek compensation after a council data breach. You will benefit from free legal advice on how to proceed.

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A Guide On Dealing With A Blackpool Borough Council Data Breach

Data breaches can happen due to online systems being hacked by cybercriminals but they can also happen due to deliberate acts or human errors. It may not always be easy to spot a data breach but generally, if your rights are at risk the data controller should inform you if your data has been breached. The data controller is an origination or party that handles personal data.

Cyberattacks have become more frequent and sophisticated. However, the most common reason for a breach in data security is often due to a mistake or human error.

Councils must implement security protocols when they gather and process personal information. They hold a lot of information about people but there are only certain types of data that needs to be protected. Data breach claims are only valid when it is possible to prove that those responsible for protecting your data failed in some way.

Personal data is breached through a breach in data security when either accidentally or unlawfully identifiable information is lost, stolen, altered or accessed and disclosed without authority. The breach could be accidental, malicious, illegal, or because of human error.

Therefore, you could seek data breach compensation if you have suffered financial loss as well as mental illnesses because your data was leaked through failings in protecting it appropriately.

Why not give Legal Expert a call today. You can be connected with our data breach claims team. There is no obligation but why not have your case assessed for free.

Statutory Data Breach Time Limits

Before we go any further, it is important that we discuss the time limits for making a data breach claim. So, when claiming against a public body such as the council you have 1 year in which to file your data breach claim. Generally, other data breach claims have a 6-year time limit.

To speak to an adviser about the time limit and to find out whether you have grounds to sue for compensation, please call the number shown at the top of the page. An adviser can tell you if a No Win No Fee solicitor from our team can represent you.

Cyber Security Statistics

It is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) that enforces data protection laws in the UK. The following graph summarises the findings based on data from the ICO regarding local Government data security incidents in the first financial quarter of this year 2021/22. Please note these statistics only look at non-cyber incidents they do not take into account cyber data breaches.

statistical graph local Gov non cyber data incident

local Gov non cyber data incident

 

What Could Be A Blackpool Borough Council Data Breach?

Data controllers as we have said are those who collect personal information about data subjects. The latter being those that provide their personal data to organisations. A data controller determines what they will do with your data. A council can be seen as a data controller because they collect and process personal information about those that use their service.

Local councils must follow the GDPR regulations. For example, installing appropriate security software on IT equipment and password-protecting it. Or making sure that physical information is locked away and staff are trained in up to date data security compliance.

In the absence of such measures, data becomes vulnerable and can be leaked in the following ways:

  • Theft of physical documents
  • Hard drives, USB drives, computers, phones; accessed without authority.
  • Hacked online files due to poor cyber security systems.

To prevent a Blackpool Borough Council data protection breach from occurring it is vital that processes and procedures are put in place that safeguards the personal data it stores about its service users. 

What Council Data Does The UK GDPR Aim To Protect?

County councils must follow the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 which sets out the core principles of data protection legislation in the United Kingdom.

The EU GDPR was enacted into UK law with the advent of the updated Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). However, since leaving the EU the UK now follows the updated version of DPA 2018 and the UK GDPR. The new laws provide you with more control over how a council (or other organisation) uses your personal information.

The main principles of the UK GDPR include:

  • Maintaining accurate and current details about the personal information they hold
  • Storing personal data only as long as necessary
  • Remaining transparent about how they use it
  • Making sure they are responsible for how they use data and comply with other principles
  • Using the data for its intended purpose
  • Storing the data that is necessary
  • Protecting your data with adequate security protocols

You can contact our team of advisors for more information about how claims for data breaches work. Free legal advice is available 24 hours a day to assess whether you have a case against a data controller for a data breach.

How Could The Data Protection Act Be Breached?

There are many different departments of a council that could be holding any type of personal or financial data for people and entities connected to them. Examples include:

  • Certificates of birth, death, and marriage
  • Financial information
  • Contact details

Identifiable or unidentifiable data includes:

  • Data that could be used to identify someone easily, such as their name or email address
  • A car registration number, passport number, or national insurance number would be data that could be traced or used to identify a person

A data breach might happen because:

  • Adoptive parents’ names and addresses are sent to children’s birth parents, causing disruption to their lives
  • A council department sends personal information to the wrong email address.
  • Letters are sent to the wrong people.

Are There Any Exceptions Applicable to a Local Council?

Generally, to protect personal information, councils and authorities must follow the UK GDPR. Your personal data can only be shared with others if there is a lawful basis.

The following are some of the legitimate reasons councils may be able to share your data without your consent.

  • In order to fulfil a contract
  • There is a legal obligation
  • When there is a risk to life
  • Public interest

To speak to one of our friendly advisers about making a claim for compensation following a council data breach, please reach out to us today.

Can I Claim For Breaches Of Rent Statement Information?

The following are examples of potential tenancy document breaches:

  • Tenancy audit document scans are lost in a public place such as on a train.
  • Tenancy documentation is sent to the wrong address
  • Rent statements not secured away in locked filing cabinets are assessed by those who are unauthorised.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you make a claim for compensation after a data breach, please contact our friendly advisers. We provide free legal advice and will connect you to one of our No Win No Fee solicitors if we find you have a valid case.

ICO Complaints For Breaches In Data Privacy

If you were notified by a council of a data breach or you simply suspect that there has been a breach of data protection, you can contact the council for further explanation. You might want to find out how the breach was caused, what data the breach has exposed and how they plan to deal with it.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can be contacted if you do not receive a response within three months. In short, you can raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that if it’s been a long time since your complaint, the ICO may not conduct an investigation.

That is why you should make your complaint to the ICO as soon as possible. You might want to make sure you contacted the correct department at the council you believe is responsible for the breach.

How To Sue If My Data Has Been Breached

Our team of advisers can provide more information about how to handle a data breach. They can connect you to one of our expert lawyers to begin working on your data breach claim if you have a valid case.

To make your claim, you do not have to use the services of a solicitor. Nevertheless, we believe that having legal guidance can be beneficial when filing a claim. This is where Legal Expert can help you. A specialist data breach solicitor could represent you on a No Win No Fee basis if you have good reason to sue for compensation.

Although the ICO enforces data protection legislation, they do not deal with claims and they do not award victims compensation. The ICO does, however, have the power to issue fines if they find that a data controller did not comply with the law.

So, if you contacted the ICO and they found the data controller was responsible for the exposure of your personal data this would help with making a claim. The solicitor who represents you would use this information as evidence.

Call a member of our team to find out how Legal Expert can help you. Claiming data breach compensation can be made much easier when you have the help of a solicitor.

What Could A Payout Compensate You For?

Compensation for data breaches can include non-material and material damages. Therefore, both financial loss and psychological distress can be claimed.

  • Material damages compensate financial losses caused by a data breach
  • Non-material damages are awarded for the psychological impact of a breach

Furthermore, you may suffer long-term psychological problems. For instance, you may experience prolonged stress or anxiety.

Proof of Damages

Financial documents such as bank statements or credit scores can be used to prove material damage.

A medical assessment can be used to prove non-material damages. Your injuries would be assessed by an independent medical professional. This report could prove:

  • The breach of your data caused or worsened your psychological injuries.
  • The extent of your injuries.

The report could also be used by a solicitor to help determine the value of your injuries.

For more information on material and non-material damages, you can speak with one of our advisers. Please contact them with any questions you might have.

How Do You Calculate Damages Should A Blackpool Borough Council Data Breach Occur?

You may wonder how much your claim may be worth. The value of each claim will depend on how severely you were affected by the data breach.

Since Vidal-Hall and others vs Google Inc in 2015, it is now possible to claim non-material damages when material damages are not being claimed for.

Also, the compensation payout for psychological harm is based on personal injury law. Therefore the Judicial College guidelines can be consulted when putting a figure on non-material damages.

Edit
Psychological damage suffered Further details Compensation payouts in non-material damages
Psychological trauma – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder The claimant suffers very severe symptoms that stop him or her from being able to work, hold down a relationship, or to participate in every day normal activities £56,180 – £94,470
Psychological trauma – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms are moderately severe and although similar to the above, the prognosis is a lot more positive. With the correct therapy and treatment the claimant is over time, expected to recover as much as possible £21,730 – £56,180
Psychological trauma – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder A good recovery is expected and ongoing symptoms experienced by the claimant will not impact on their lives, nor should it impact the claimants ability to work and hold down a job £7,680 – £21,730
Psychological trauma – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Claimant is expected to totally recover from the harm caused by the data breach within two years with the right therapy and treatment Up to £7,680
Psychological damage Claimant suffers extremely severe psychiatric harm as a result of the data breach. The Compensation awarded will depend on several things which includes the claimant’s ability to work, hold down a job, lead a normal life, take part in daily activities and whether their relationships are affected £51,460 – £108,620
Psychological damage The claimant suffers moderately severe symptoms than those above. As such, they have more of a chance of making a recovery over time with the correct treatment and therapy. That said, the ongoing symptoms may impact the claimants life as time goes on £17,900 – £51,460
Psychological damage Claimant’s symptoms are far less serious and the prognosis is much more positive with the correct therapy and treatment, the claimant is expected to recover from the mental harm caused by a data breach £5,500 – £17,900
Psychological damage The claimant suffers milder symptoms will be is expected to make a total recovery over a period of time Up to £5,500

Data breaches can also result in financial losses. These losses may be recoverable as material damages.

For more information on non-material and material damages you may be able to claim after a data breach, call our claims advisers today.

Claim For A Blackpool Borough Council Data Breach With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

No Win No Fee agreements, known as Conditional Fee Agreements, are agreements between you and your lawyer. They offer many benefits. The contract stipulates that in the event that your case is unsuccessful, you will not have to pay the solicitor’s fees.

However, you will be required to pay your lawyer a legally capped percentage if you win your case. In any event, you will still be entitled to the majority of your compensation. Furthermore, you would not have to pay any upfront or ongoing solicitor fees.

So, claimants can work with our solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis. Contact our friendly team of advisers today to learn more about the benefits of entering into a No Win No Fee agreement. Then, they can connect you with one of our specialist solicitors if you have a valid claim following a data breach.

Need More Help In Making A Claim?

Finally, all of our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis at Legal Expert. Furthermore, they have experience handling claims similar to yours when it comes to data breach law.

Throughout the claims process, they will keep you updated and walk you through each step. Visit our reviews page to learn more.

Talk To Our Specialist Team

We are coming to the final sections of our guide about dealing with a Blackpool Borough Council data breach should one arise. Our advisors offer free legal advice and are here to help. Moreover, we can answer any questions you have about your data breach claim. Regardless of whether you are ready to connect with a solicitor, one of our friendly advisers can offer free legal advice 24/7.

If you have any questions, please get in touch using the details below:

We provide you with a no obligation, free, initial consultation. Also, we can assess your case before providing essential advice on whether you could claim or not. If you have good reason to sue for compensation, a solicitor could offer to work on your claim on a No Win No Fee basis.

Useful Data Protection Articles

Data Protection Frequently Asked Questions

How long could my case take to process?

Depending on the seriousness of the breach and the severity of the harm you were caused your claim could take several months to reach a settlement.

Who is the Information Commissioner?

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the body that enforces data protection law in the United Kingdom.

Who could I make a complaint about?

If you suspect a data breach you can make a formal complaint about the data controller to the ICO.

Why do data breaches happen?

Most data breaches happen due to human error. However, cyber-attacks also contribute to the number of breaches in data security.

To conclude, let us take this time to thank you for reading this article about dealing with a Blackpool Borough Council data breach should one take place. if you need any more information please call our team of advisors any time of the day or night.

Guide By Wood

Edited By Melissa.