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Children’s Services Confirmed Information Has Been Breached – Can I Claim?

Children’s Services Confirmed Information Has Been Breached – Can I Claim Compensation?

If a party connected with children’s services confirmed information has been breached, this guide tells you what steps you could potentially take next. Children’s services can be a variety of organisations or charities that collectively supply support, care and protection for vulnerable children. These organisations may need lots of personal information about those they provide their services to. Under laws in the UK, this type of personal data must be protected and kept secure according to applicable legislation.

If a party connected with children’s services has informed you that your or your child’s personal data has been breached, please get in touch with Legal Expert today. Our claims team can answer any questions you may have and provide a free case assessment. There is no obligation to proceed should you have a valid claim.

  • Call us on 0800 073 8804
  • Write to us to see if you can claim online
  • Or use the Advice widget to ask a claims advisor a question

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What To Do If Children’s Services Confirmed Information Has Been Breached

Personal data is information that identifies us, such as names and addresses. A personal data breach is a security issue that will comprise the availability, confidentiality, integrity and security of said data.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 DPA, data controllers or data processors must keep safe and secure the personal data of UK residents. A data controller is the main party that will have control over the means for processing the data, and the processor is a third party that could be hired by the controller to do the actual processing

So, if you have received a data breach notification from children’s services informing you that your data has been breached, call our claims team today. Please note that even if your information has been breached, this does not automatically qualify you to be eligible to make a data breach claim. You must be able to satisfy the criteria set out in Article 82 of the UK GDPR.

How Often Does Social Care Suffer A Data Breach?

The Information Commissioner’s Office is an independent public body which upholds the public’s data protection rights. If an organisation suffers a data breach which compromises the rights and freedoms of the data subjects, it must report the incident to the ICO within 72 hours.

Taking information and statistics from the ICO, we have produced the graph below that looks at how many data security incidents, cyber and non-cyber related, have been reported to the ICO by the social care sector.

Please see the ICO’s data security incident trends for more information. The number reported during 2022 was incomplete at the time of writing.

What Children’s Information Could Be Exposed?

Children’s services must keep safe children’s and families’ personal data in accordance with data protection laws. But what is personal data, and what data could social care services need to process?

Personal data consists of:

  • Name and contact details
  • DOB
  • National insurance number
  • Debit and credit card details

However, there is personal data that can be considered sensitive, and the UK GDPR provides this data with extra protection. Special category data can include:

  • Personal data relating to your ethnic origin or racial background
  • Health data
  • Biometric and genetic data
  • Sexual orientation or personal data about your sex life

Services that are there to protect and support vulnerable children may collect this type of personal data. So, should a social services data breach occur, and your personal data is involved, you or your child could suffer stress from the data breach or psychological injuries.

If Children’s Services Confirmed Information Has Been Breached, Can I Claim Compensation?

Article 82 of the UK GDPR states the eligibility criteria for making a personal data breach claim:

  • Firstly, the data controller or processor breached data protection laws or failed to adhere to their rules.
  • Consequently, your or your child’s personal data was involved in a breach.
  • And you or your child experienced emotional distress. In some cases, you may claim for mental health injuries. On the other hand, you suffered material losses because your personal data was breached.

You could be appointed as a litigation friend to claim on behalf of your child. Anyone who is a minor, i.e. under the age of 18, cannot bring forward a civil claim in court.

Please get in touch with Legal Expert today to see if you have legitimate grounds to make a data breach claim.

How Much Can I Claim For A Data Breach?

If your personal data breach claim succeeds, you could be awarded compensation for the damage you have suffered:

  • You can receive material damage compensation for any money or assets you lost.
  • Or you can receive compensation for non-material damage you have suffered, such as for psychiatric injuries incurred or emotional distress suffered.

The compensation amounts in the table are taken from the guidelines from the Judicial College (16th edition). The Judicial College guidelines is a document which lists injuries and guideline compensation brackets. However, the compensation brackets in the table are not guaranteed payments.

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Impact On Mental Health Severity And Notes Payout
Mental Harm Severe – There is a generally quite poor prognosis. Relationships, work and life in general are impacted. £54,830 to £115,730
Mental Harm Moderately Severe – There is a more hopeful prognosis, though the person is still struggling to maintain work and relationships. £19,070 to £54,830
Mental Harm Moderate – The person has struggled with a variety of issues. Improvements have been made. £5,860 to £19,070
Mental Harm Less Severe – Compensation is determined by the impact on sleep and other areas of life. £1,540 to £5,860
Reactive Psychiatric Disorder Severe – There have been negative impacts on all parts of this person’s life. They are unable to return to pre-trauma work or relationships. £59,860 to £100,670
Reactive Psychiatric Disorder Moderately Severe – There is a chance for the person to recover from severe symptoms with professional treatment. £23,150 to £59,860
Reactive Psychiatric Disorder Moderate – Following significant recovery, any symptoms which remain do not grossly disable this person. £8,180 to £23,150
Reactive Psychiatric Disorder Less Severe – Within 12 – 24 months a near recovery should have taken place. £3,950 to £8,180

Please call Legal Expert to have your claim valued by an advisor.

Speak To Legal Expert If Children’s Services Confirmed Your Information Has Been Breached

To see if you can begin a data breach claim after children’s services confirmed your information has been breached, please get in touch with Legal Expert today. Our claims specialists can offer you free legal advice about making a claim. What’s more, if the team believe you meet the correct criteria to claim, Legal Expert can appoint a dedicated data breach solicitor to manage your compensation claim.

A No Win No Fee solicitor from the team could offer their services through a Conditional Fee Agreement. No upfront fees are generally needed for the solicitor’s service. You will pay a success fee in the case your claim succeeds. The success fee is paid from your compensation payment at a legally capped rate. So, the majority of the compensation payment goes to you.

Please contact us today to enquire about making a data breach claim:

  • Call our helpline at 0800 073 8804
  • Request to make your claim online
  • Or speak to an advisor now using our web chat widget below

Related Data Breach Information

Please read the information below for further information on making a data breach claim.

Thank you for reading our guide on the potential steps you could take if children’s services confirmed information has been breached.

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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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