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Gwent Police Data Breach – Can I Claim?

Are you wondering how a Gwent Police data breach could potentially cause you harm? This guide could help. We explain the laws that are in place to protect personal data and how you could claim compensation for harm caused to you by a breach.

We will also look at what personal data is and how a breach could possibly occur. You might be wondering what steps you could take if affected by a police data breach; we will explain this in more detail later on in this guide.

How This Guide Could Help

Gwent police data breach claims guide

Gwent police data breach claims guide

If you are already at the stage where you want to make a claim for a data breach, we would be delighted to help you. We could connect you with a data breach lawyer that could fight for the maximum data breach compensation possible for your case.

You can contact us at any time with your questions or to begin a claim. You can:

Select a Section

  1. What Are Gwent Police Data Breaches?
  2. How Could Police Data Protection Breaches Happen?
  3. Gwent Police Data Breach Statistics
  4. What Action Can I Take Following A Gwent Police Data Breach?
  5. How Are GDPR Data Breach Amounts Calculated?
  6. What Is A No Win No Fee Data Breach Solicitor And Can They Help Me?
  7. Getting Advice On Claiming For A Gwent Police Data Breach?

What Are Gwent Police Data Breaches?

When you entrust your personal data to an organisation, they have a responsibility to secure it. This is the same whether your personal data is being held by an employer, a school or a police department.

As data controllers, they have a legal duty to protect your personal data. The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) is a piece of EU legislation that focuses on data protection. This was then ratified into UK law with the introduction of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

The UK has now left the EU; because of this, the DPA has been updated to reflect this and sits alongside the UK GDPR. We refer to this regime in relation to data protection in the UK.

What is considered a data breach?

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforces data protection legislation in the UK. The ICO state that a data protection breach could involve:

  • The unlawful or unauthorised theft, loss of (or loss of availability of) personal data
  • An unlawful or unauthorised disclosure, transmission or alteration of personal data
  • The unlawful or unauthorised access to personal data

Personal data is defined as data that can be used to identify a living person, either in isolation or when combined with other information. It doesn’t matter if this data is stored digitally, like on a memory stick, or physically in something like a filing cabinet; it’s still classed as personal data and should be protected.

If you would like more information on how a potential a Gwent Police data breach could occur, please read on. You can also get in touch with a member of our team for free legal advice; they may be able to connect you with a solicitor to work on your claim.

How Could Police Data Protection Breaches Happen?

You may be wondering “how could a Gwent Police data breach potentially occur, causing data subjects harm?”. There are a number of different ways that a data breach could occur.

Data breaches can happen maliciously as the result of a cyberattack, where criminals try to obtain personal data to use for their own gain. However, you can also be affected by a data breach that was caused by human error.

We’ve included some examples of causes of data breaches below.

  • A police officer sends your personal information in error to someone’s email address who did not have the authorisation to view this
  • A laptop containing your personal data is left on public transport and can be accessed by anyone as it’s not password protected
  • The desk sergeant’s computer screen is visible from the waiting room of the police station. This means that unauthorised parties can view your personal data.
  • They failed to BCC people in an email sent to a number of people, therefore breaching your email address

Gwent Police Data Breach Statistics

In addition to this case study, we can reveal from the ICO’s Q2 2021/22 statistics that in the justice sector, there were a total of 40 security incidents reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). 2 of these were cyber security incidents; the rest were not.

In addition, in a response to a Freedom of Information request sent to Gwent Police the following statistics were revealed.

Data breach incidents:

  • 2019 – 50
  • 2020 – 77
  • 2021 to the date of request- 51

Gwent police revealed that the causes of breaches included:

  • Emails being sent in error
  • Internal office errors in relation to hard copy data left unattended which contained personal data
  • Personal data being accessed by someone without authorisation

What Action Can I Take Following A Gwent Police Data Breach?

If personal data is exposed, it’s important that the data subject is told about the breach without undue delay. They should also inform the ICO within 48 hours.

However, sometimes you might be concerned about how your data is being used before being informed that an incident has occurred. If this is the case, you can raise your concerns directly to the organisation. They might offer you some compensation directly; you’re free to accept this, but be aware that this means you cannot then go on to make a claim.

If you’re not happy with the way that they handle the concerns you have, you can then report the breach to the ICO. However, they may decline to investigate if you approach them more than 3 months since your last meaningful communication with them.

Even if the ICO decide in your favour, they would not be able to pay you compensation. However, you may be able to claim compensation.

You don’t need to do this with a data breach solicitor, but this could help the claims process run more smoothly than without a solicitor’s help. Speak with a member of our team to see if you could be connected with a No Win No Fee lawyer; they may also be able to advise you on how you could tell if a Gwent Police data breach were to occur.

How Are GDPR Data Breach Amounts Calculated?

The compensation you could receive for harm caused by a data breach can be broken down into two categories; these are material and non-material damages.

When it comes to calculating compensation for a data breach under the GDPR, we have given you some examples. In the table below you can see guideline payout amounts. The figures come from the Judicial College Guidelines, which is a publication often used to help value claims.

Edit
Damage/Condition Guideline Payout Bracket How severe is the condition?
Psychiatric injury £51,460 to £108,620 Severe
Psychiatric injury £17,900 to £51,460 Moderately severe
Psychiatric injury £5,500 to £17,900 Moderate
Psychiatric injury £1,440 to £5,500 Less severe
PTSD £56,180 to £94,470 Severe
PTSD £21,730 to £56,180 Moderately severe
PTSD £7,680 to £21,730 Moderate
PTSD £3,710 to £7,680 Less severe

If you would like to speak to us about what GDPR data breach compensation you could receive, please call our team. We would be happy to assist you. Our team may also be able to provide you with information on how to tell if a Gwent Police data breach were to occur.

What Is A No Win No Fee Data Breach Solicitor And Can They Help Me?

Funding legal representation through a No Win No Fee agreement could be beneficial to you if you want to retain the services of a data breach lawyer without paying any legal fees upfront.

When a solicitor works under this kind of agreement, it means that there are no legal fees to pay them before they start working on your claim or as it progresses. If you aren’t awarded compensation, there will be nothing for you to pay your solicitor at all.

You only pay them a success fee if your claim is successful. The success fee is generally a percentage of your eventual data breach compensation payout. It is also subject to a legal cap to prevent overcharging.

Could I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?

A No Win No Fee agreement will only be offered to you if your claim has a good chance of success. This means that a data breach lawyer might look at the following before they agree to take on your claim on this basis:

  • If a data breach occurred and what the nature of it was
  • Whether the data controller acted wrongfully
  • If you suffered harm because of the breach
  • Whether you are within the time limit for starting a claim (Generally this is 6 years. However, if the claim is against a public body, this reduces to one year)

If you call our knowledgeable friendly team, we could help. As well as providing guidance on how to spot a Gwent Police data breach if one were to occur, we could offer a free, no-obligation assessment of the value of your claim.

Getting Advice On Claiming For A Gwent Police Data Breach?

Are you in a position where you believe you may be able to claim for police data protection breaches? Would you like to ask us further questions about your claim? Or perhaps you would like to know more about whether we could provide you with a data breach lawyer?

We would be delighted to offer you the guidance and support you need to claim compensation. We have great reviews from previous claimants and could offer you the same level of service. To contact us, simply:

Further Resources Relating To Gwent Police Data Breach Claims

Action Taken By The ICO – You can find out action taken by the ICO against organisations on this page.

Consent – You can find out if an organisation needs your consent to process your personal data here.

Cyber Security Breaches Survey– the results of the government’s cyber security survey for 2021.

Social Services Data Breach- This guide looks at how social services could expose your personal data and the steps you could take.

Is Sharing An Email Address A Data Breach?– This guide looks at whether you could claim if your email address has been shared.

Lost Device Breach– This guide explains whether the loss of a device could be grounds for a data breach claim.

Other Compensation Guides

Thank you for reading this guide on how a Gwent Police data breach could potentially occur.

Article by Jeffries

Checked by Stocks