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Canterbury Christ Church University Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide – How Much Compensation Can I Claim? – Amounts For Canterbury Christ Church University Data Breaches

How Do I Seek Compensation For A Data Breach By Canterbury Christchurch University?

You might think that if criminals wanted to cause a data breach, they would target banks or financial institutions. However, in this digital world that we live in, personal data about individuals can be as valuable a commodity as cash. That means any organisation who holds personal information, such as universities, could be targeted. This guide is about claiming for data breaches by Canterbury Christ Church University but could also apply to just about any other educational establishment. We will review why a data breach might happen, the harm they can lead to and when you might be entitled to data breach compensation.

Canterbury Christ Church University data breach claims guide

Canterbury Christ Church University data breach claims guide

The law on data protection changed when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and The Data Protection Act 2018 were introduced. Since the new rules have been implemented, any organisation that wishes to process your personal information, store it or share it must tell you why and obtain your permission.

In addition, the data must be stored securely and in a confidential manner. If information about you is leaked during a data breach, you could claim compensation for any harm caused. Moreover, the organisation responsible could face a massive financial penalty if the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) finds them guilty of breaking the law.

Legal Expert is here to support you if you are considering making a claim. We have trained a team of advisors to be able to assess your case and explain your options to you. If they suspect that your claim has good grounds, you could be connected to one of our experienced data breach solicitors. To make any claim that is accepted less stressful, they conduct their work on a No Win No Fee basis, something we’ll explain in more detail below.

Why not start your claim right away by calling our team on 0800 073 8804? Or, if you would like to learn more about higher education data breaches, please continue reading.

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A Guide On Claims For Data Breaches By Canterbury Christ Church University

After the first few months following the launch of GDPR, we have become a little immune to interactions about our personal information. They are just about everywhere including on websites when you’re asked to agree to something in a pop-up box to application forms where you have to agree to your information being stored. Even though you might not realise what’s happening, GDPR compliance is important. That’s because it gives you a lot of control over what happens to personal information about you.

What’s really important is that when an organisation has been told your preferences, they stick to them. For instance, if you agree to your details being stored so that you can access a website, but don’t agree to marketing emails being sent, then a website owner could be in breach of the law if they use your email address for that purpose.

As well as that, companies could be in trouble if a data breach happens that leaks personal information to unauthorised individuals. When that happens, the ICO could investigate and fine companies guilty of data protection breaches. On top of that, you could claim for any harm inflicted, such as financial losses or the stress, anxiety or depression that might occur when you find out about what’s happened.

If you want to pursue data breach compensation, you’ll need to adhere to the time limits related to making a claim. The general limitation period is 6-years, but a 1-year limit applies in cases where your human rights are breached. We always advise starting a claim as soon as it’s feasible as it will often make it easier to remember what happened and how you suffered.

To find out more about how we can help you make a data breach claim, please get in touch with our team.

What Are Data Breaches By Canterbury Christ Church University?

We live in a largely digital world these days which means a lot of data about us is stored here, there and everywhere. However, paper filing systems still exist. So, the GDPR not only covers cybersecurity issues that lead to data breaches like DDoS attacks, malware, viruses or ransomware, it also covers physical documents stored in the likes of storage cabinets.

The GDPR defines a personal data breach as a security event which leads to personally identifiable details being lost, accessed, altered, destroyed or disclosed by means that have not been pre-authorised by a data subject.

The type of data this can involve includes names, ID numbers, telephone numbers, addresses, email addresses, ethnicity information, disability details or sexual orientation details. An act that leads to a data breach need not be deliberate or illegal; the GDPR also covers accidental actions that cause data to be exposed.

At the point a data breach has been noticed, the organisation responsible for the data has to investigate the potential risk. If any individual could be harmed by the breach, they should be made aware of when the breach occurred, the information that was accessed and when the event took place. Furthermore, the ICO must be kept up to date on the investigation.

If you suspect that your personal information has been compromised and you would like to discuss starting a claim, please let us know and we’ll investigate the matter for you.

Data Storage Regulations Under The GDPR

If you take the time to read the GDPR, you will find definitions like:

  • Data controller: The company who wants to process your data. They need to explain why and the method that will be used to process it.
  • Data subject: Any person who will be having their personal information processed.

The GDPR also sets out several principles relating to data processing which all data controllers need to be able to demonstrate adherence to, including:

  • All data subjects need to know why their data is going to be processed.
  • The processing needs to be legal, completely transparent and fair.
  • Only the smallest amount of information (to fulfil the requirements) should be collected.
  • When storing personal information, it needs to be kept up to date.
  • The data that has been collected can only be stored for as long as is necessary.
  • Processing should be conducted securely and confidentially.

To find out if you have a valid data breach claim, please contact our specialists today.

Universities Which Have Been Impacted By Data Breaches

Some of the information held by universities is highly sensitive. If it gets into the wrong hands it could be used to extort money or in identity theft crimes. That’s why, when the ICO looks at a breach, it investigates what’s happened and issues fines to anybody found guilty of data protection breaches.

In one case, the ICO fined The University of Greenwich £120,000 after a security breach led to personal data relating to 20,000 individuals being leaked. The data was part of a micro-website that had been constructed by the university’s maths computing department to support a conference. However, when the conference finished, the website was not destroyed or secured.

Many years later, the cyber-attackers spotted a flaw in the website’s security and the data, containing contact details and some more sensitive information (in certain cases) was accessed.

The fine was issued due to the fact that the university didn’t have measures in place to, as much as possible, ensure such a breach wouldn’t happen.

Want to read more about this? – Report from the ICO containing details of the University of Greenwich’s £120,000 fine due to their serious breach of cyber security.

Rates Of Data Breaches Suffered By Universities

While you might consider university data breaches as being rare occurrences, one study suggests otherwise. The study, based on the responses of 86 universities, found that:

  • 27% of responding universities had never hired 3rd party security firms to assess their network security.
  • 54% of those responding had needed to contact the ICO in the past year to tell them about a data breach.
  • Proactive student training on data safety was only provided at 51% of universities.

It could be argued that, based on these figures, even though new data protection laws have been implemented, there is still some way to go before the risk of a university data breach is reduced.

Source: https://securityitsummit.co.uk/briefing/50-of-uk-universities-have-reported-data-breaches-in-last-12-months/

Thefts Of Digital And Physical Data

In the previous section, we demonstrated how one report suggests that university data breaches have been quite common in the past year. In this section, we are going to discuss some actions that might help reduce the risk of future data breaches. They include:

  • Ensuring that portable storage devices have their disks encrypted so they are rendered useless if stolen or lost.
  • Reviewing the university data protection policies at regular intervals.
  • Asking staff and students to attend data awareness training.
  • Keeping all firmware, hardware and software up to date.
  • Hiring a penetration testing firm to examine the university’s physical and network security and to identify any potential flaws before hackers do.

It might seem that protecting against data breaches is expensive but, in the long run, these steps could mean the university avoids having to pay ICO fines for breaching data security legislation. In addition, they could prevent a lot of harm to any individuals who the university hold personal data on.

What Types Of Compensation Are You Eligible To Claim?

If you decide to claim for a breach of data privacy laws, your claim will usually be split into two separate parts. Material damages could be claimed if you’ve suffered any form of financial loss and non-material damages are used to cover the suffering caused by psychological harm that has resulted from the data breach.

While we would like to tell you exactly how much compensation could be awarded in this guide, it’s not possible because each case is unique. Therefore, to get a compensation estimate, you will need to have your claim assessed properly first. This is also important because you can only lodge a single claim for your suffering. Therefore, it’s essential that everything is properly assessed before you submit a claim.

When claiming for the financial impact of the data breach, solicitors look at what costs you’ve already suffered and any that might result in the future. For example, if an identity thief has stolen your details and used them to access financial products, the cost of the likes of loans, mortgages or credit cards might increase for you in the future due to the damage to your credit file.

When considering psychological damages, an independent medical specialist could be hired to look at what harm has been caused by the data protection breach and whether you might continue to suffer. This could include claiming for the effect the data breach has had on your long-term ability to work, manage relationships or cope with life generally.

To start the ball rolling, why not contact our team today? If your claim appears viable, you could be connected with one of our data breach solicitors who will go through everything with you so that no aspect of your claim is missed.

Claims Calculator For Data Breaches By Canterbury Christ Church University

In the Court of Appeal, an important case was heard a few years ago that affected how data breach claims are handled. That’s because, when summing up the case of Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015], the judges decided that it is possible to claim compensation for the psychological harm caused by a data breach even when you have not suffered any financial loss. Additionally, they set out that payments for psychological harm could be made in line with personal injury law.

To illustrate what amount of compensation could be paid, we have added the table below. It shows different injuries and the amount of compensation they could achieve. The figures are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a document used by legal professionals when settling claims to help calculate the compensation amount.

Edit
Claim Type Severity Compensation Range Additional Information
Psychiatric Damage (general) Four main factors are considered in psychiatric injury claims : 1) The victim’s ability to cope with work and life in general; 2) The prospect of successful treatment; 3) The affect on the victim’s relationship; 4) The medical prognosis.
Psychiatric Damage Severe £51,460 – £108,620 The victim will have serious problems with all factors leading to a very poor prognosis.
Psychiatric Damage Moderately Severe £17,900 to £51,460 There will be significant problems with all factors but a more optimistic prognosis overall.
Psychiatric Damage Moderate £5,500 to £17,900 The victim is likely to have suffered with all factors but there will be good prognosis due to the significant recovery that has already happened.
Psychiatric Damage Less Severe To £5,500 The settlement in this category will be based on how long the victim suffered and how long daily activities and sleep were affected.

What the table shows is that the amount of money awarded relates to the level of suffering caused by your injuries. Therefore, when you make a claim for a data breach, you will be asked by your solicitor to have a local medical assessment. This will be conducted by an independent specialist who will ask you questions about how you have suffered. They will also look at any medical records that have been requested.

When the meeting comes to an end, the specialist will prepare a document that outlines their findings. Their report will be sent to your solicitor and used to demonstrate the extent of your suffering.

What Should I Do If My Data Has Been Exposed, Leaked Or Breached?

What is the first thing you will want to do after you have decided to start a claim? Well, you might want to find a data breach solicitor to support your case – but where do you look? Some claimants simply pick the most local firm of lawyers, others read online solicitor reviews, while others just ask a member of their family for a recommendation.

We could help make your search a lot easier, though. If you call Legal Expert, you will have the opportunity to get answers to all of your questions. One of our specialist advisors will review your claim with you and could pass it to one of our data breach solicitors. If the claim is taken on, the solicitor will explain any complex parts of the claims process to you. And they will work hard to try and make sure compensation is awarded fairly, updating you regularly as the case continues.

Why not call us today to find out more about the services Legal Expert offer and how we can help you make a claim.

No Win No Fee Claims For Data Breaches By Canterbury Christ Church University

It is very common for those with potential compensation claims to not make one because they are concerned about losing money in the process. Well, Legal Expert’s solicitors understand that worry and provide a No Win No Fee service for all cases taken on. Not only could you benefit from reduced financial risk, but you will also find the whole process less stressful.

A solicitor will need to check the claim has a chance of success before it is taken on. Once that process is complete, if both you and the solicitor are happy to continue, a No Win No Fee agreement, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), will be drawn up. This contract, used to fund your case, sets out how the claim will be handled. Furthermore, it will show you:

  • No money needs to be paid prior to the claim starting.
  • No hidden costs or solicitor’s fees will be taken while the claim continues.
  • If the claim fails, none of your solicitor’s fees will be charged to you.

When a claim is won, a small percentage of your compensation will be held on to by your solicitor. This is referred to in the CFA as a success fee which helps cover the solicitor’s costs. By law, these fees are capped. So that you are aware of your success fee percentage before the claim starts, it is listed in the CFA clearly.

For further advice on No Win No Fee claims or to see if you’re eligible to start one, please contact our specialists today.

Discuss Your Case With A Solicitor

Thank you for reaching this part of our guide about university data breach claims. We hope that the information we have provided has been useful and that you would like to use Legal Expert to start your claim. If so, here are the best methods of getting in touch:

  • Call one of our specialist advisors for free data breach claims advice on 0800 073 8804.
  • Ask for free advice in our live chat tool.
  • Email details of how you have been affected by a data breach to info@legalexpert.co.uk.
  • Request a call back at a suitable time when you start an online claim.

To make the process of starting a claim easier, you can contact our advice line 24-hours a day, 7 days per week. We’ll start by listening carefully to what’s happened and how you’ve been affected, and you’ll be provided with completely free legal advice. If your case appears to be viable, you could be connected to one of our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors.

Resources For Claimants

Now that you’ve reached the end of this guide about claiming for a University of Canterbury data breach, we have decided to provide you with some additional resources that you might require while claiming. In addition, we’ve listed some more of our guides to in case you need to make a different type of compensation claim in the future.

Data Protection Policy – The policy relating to staff, students and other data subjects associated with Canterbury Christ Church University.

NHS Mental Health Services – Information from the NHS on locating and accessing mental health services.

Recent ICO Action – The latest investigations undertaken by the ICO and information about the fines it has issued.

Workplace Accident Claims – A guide explaining how a No Win No Fee lawyer could help you claim after being injured at work.

Criminal Injury Claims – Advice on when you might be entitled to compensation if you are injured in a criminal act against you.

Other Useful Compensation Guides

Guide by Hambridge

Edited by Billing