How To Make A Claim For A Disciplinary Information Data Breach

After a disciplinary information data breach, you might feel distressed and suffer financial damage. If this is the case, you may be able to claim compensation.

However, in order to be entitled to claim, you would need to show that the organisation in charge of handling your data failed in their responsibility to keep it secure.

Disciplinary information data breach claim guide

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) sets out principles that organisations should comply with when processing personal data. An updated version of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) sits alongside UK GDPR and together these pieces of legislation set out the framework for protecting personal data in the UK.

In this guide, you’ll find out how to put together a strong data breach claim. We will also answer questions like:

When should a data breach be reported?
Who investigates data breaches?
How much is the average data breach payout?

For free, friendly legal advice, speak to our advisors. If you get in touch, we could arrange a consultation with no obligation to use our services afterwards. To find out more, you can:

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Choose A Section

Guidance On Claiming Compensation After A Data Breach Involving Disciplinary Information
What Is A Disciplinary Information Data Breach?
Examples Of Data Breaches Involving Disciplinary Information
How Much Could I Get For A Disciplinary Information Data Breach?
Benefits Of Using No Win No Fee Solicitors
Further Information About A Disciplinary Information Data Breach

Guidance On Claiming Compensation After A Data Breach Involving Disciplinary Information

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is an independent authority in the UK. Their aim is to protect the information rights in the public interest and promotes data privacy for individuals.

Those who decide how and when personal data is to be processed are known as data controllers. Data processors can process personal data on behalf of controllers, and they’re subject to the same data protection laws.

If your employer, as a data controller, does not comply with data protection law and commits wrongful conduct resulting in your data being exposed in a breach, you might be able to claim compensation for a GDPR breach. However, you must have suffered psychological harm or financial loss as a result of the breach; you cannot claim just because a breach occurred.

To find out if you have a valid claim, get in touch with us for a free consultation on your claim for a disciplinary information data breach.

What Is A Disciplinary Information Data Breach?

A data breach is a security incident that affects the availability, integrity or confidentiality of personal data. Personal data is information that can be used to identify a natural person. The information must be stored in order to be considered data and can be stored either digitally or physically.

There are other kinds of data called special category data, that require more protection. This includes information on your sexuality or medical conditions.

Furthermore, organisations that store and process personal data need to adhere to the key principles that the UK GDPR sets out. These are:

Accuracy
Purpose limitation
Minimisation of data
Limitation of purpose
Integrity and confidentiality
Accountability
Fairness, lawfulness and transparency

Speak to an advisor to find out how we could help you following a disciplinary information data breach.

Examples Of Data Breaches Involving Disciplinary Information

Your disciplinary records are information relating to any disciplinary action that’s been taken against you in the workplace. It can include witness statements, notes relating to appeals or hearings and letters detaling the outcome of action taken.

Let’s take a look at some examples of how a data breach could occur:

Data being emailed to a recipient without authorisation to view it. If details of your disciplinary were sent to the wrong person, this could cause you distress.
Loss or theft of paperwork: Your employer, under data protection law, should make sure that your data is securely stored. If not, your data, such as a computer record on your disciplinary, may be accessed and stolen.
Lack of online security measures. This could mean that your information is able to be accessed by hackers. For example, the information obtained in a wage data breach could be used to create a phishing scam.

For more information on how a disciplinary information data breach could occur, speak with one of our advisors today.

Latest Data Breach Stats

The latest data security incident trends published by the ICO in Q4 2021/22 revealed that the health sector had the most data breaches with 427 reported. The stats also indicated that the most common incident types to all sectors were:

Data emailed to the wrong recipient- 381 incidents
Other non cyber incidents- 328 incidents
Unauthorised access (non-cyber)-229 incidents

If you have suffered psychological harm or financial loss as a result of a breach caused by the failings of the organisation, you might be able to claim. Get in touch for more information.

How Much Could I Get For A Disciplinary Information Data Breach?

When you suffer from a disciplinary information data breach you might be able to claim for any psychological harm you suffer as a result. This head of the claim is “non-material damages”. Previously, it was the case that you could only claim for non-material damages if you experienced material damages, too. However, you can now claim for each individually or for both together.

Legal professionals use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to value non-material damages. Therefore, we have taken compensation ranges from the 16th edition of the JCG to give you an estimate of what you might receive for mental harm caused by a disciplinary information data breach.

Injury	Severity	Compensation Range	Notes
Mental Harm	Severe	£54,830 to £115,730	Aspects of life are negatively affected with a poor prospect of recovery.
	Moderately severe	£19,070 to £54,830	Significant problems will arise in all areas of life, but there will be a more optimistic prospect of recovery than in more serious cases
	Moderate	£5,860 to £19,070	There will have been the sort of problems seen in more serious cases, there will have been a marked improvement and a good prospect of recovery.
	Less severe	£1,540 to £5,860	The compensation awarded will take into account the extent to which the injury stopped you from sleeping or impacted your daily actions.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Severe	£59,860 to £100,670	The injured person will not be able to function at the same level they did before the traumatic incident occurred.
	Moderately severe	£23,150 to £59,860	The injured person may struggle with significant disability in the foreseeable future.
	Moderate	£8,180 to £23,150	Minor symptoms may persist but a recovery is expected.
	Less severe	£3,950 to £8,180	A full recovery is predicted within the two years and only minor symptoms will last any longer.

A Breakdown Of Material Damages

Material damage accounts for financial damage. For example, a data breach could lead to you losing money or someone stealing your identity, resulting in an impact on your credit score. Subsequently, it would be in your best interest to keep hold of evidence that could prove any expenditures, such as bank statements and receipts.

Our panel of data breach claim solicitors are experienced in this field and could help you cover all bases of your claim. To find out more about if you are eligible to work with our team, speak to an advisor instantly using our live chat function.

Benefits Of Using No Win No Fee Solicitors

If you are looking for a feasible solution to funding legal representation, without accruing ongoing legal fees or hidden charges, then a No Win No Fee solicitor could be for you. Here’s why:

You won’t pay any upfront fees to your solicitor
Your solicitor agrees any fees with you before beginning legal proceedings
Your solicitor will deduct a legally capped success fee from your settlement if your claim succeeds
However, you’ll pay nothing for your solicitor’s services if your claim fails

Our panel of solicitors may offer to represent you on this basis. Get in touch today for free legal advice.

Ask About Making A Disciplinary Information Data Breach Claim

To check your eligibility to make a claim with a solicitor from our panel, speak to an advisor and they could arrange a telephone consultation. The sooner you get in touch, the quicker you could start the process of claiming data breach compensation. Here’s how you can contact us:

Give us a call on the phone number above
Get in an instant response using our live chat
Start a claim online and we will call you back

Further Information About A Disciplinary Information Data Breach

Below, there are some additional resources that you might find useful.

Report a breach – How to report a breach to the ICO.

Cyber security breaches survey 2022 – The government’s yearly report on cyber security incidents.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – Advice on coping with PTSD from the NHS.

We’ve also included some more of our guides for your information:

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you are ready to take action after a disciplinary information data breach that has caused you harm.

Disciplinary Information Data Breach Claims