Santander Data Breach – When Could You Claim Compensation?

This guide will explore the potential action you could take if a Santander data breach were to occur. 

Santander data breach

Santander data breach – When could you claim compensation?

Additionally, we will look at the data protection law in place to protect your personal data and how a breach could occur if this is not adhered to. 

Data protection legislation sets out the right for those affected by a data breach to claim compensation. We will explore the eligibility criteria and the compensation that could be awarded in the event of a successful claim.

Furthermore, we will discuss the benefits of hiring a No Win No Fee solicitor and how they could help you when seeking data breach compensation.

For more information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team of advisors. They can provide free legal advice and answer any questions you might have. You can get in touch by:

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Santander Data Breach – When Could You Claim Compensation?

Data controllers and data processors have a responsibility under data protection law to protect your personal data. This legislation includes the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. 

A data controller is the party that decides why and how they will process your personal data. Whilst they can process this data themselves, they may also outsource this to a data processor who acts on behalf of the controller. If either of these parties fail to adhere to data protection law, it could lead to your personal data becoming compromised.

A breach of personal data is a security incident in which your personal information is accessed or disclosed without authorisation. It can also involve your personal information being lost, altered or destroyed in either an accidental or unlawful way.

Examples of a personal data breach can include those caused by human error and those caused by poor cyber security. Human error data breaches could include:

  • Lost records: An employee fails to keep files containing your personal information secure which results in them being lost.
  • Wrong email address: An employee sends an email containing your personal data to the wrong person.

If you are affected, either psychologically or financially, by a personal data breach that resulted from an organisation’s failings, you could claim compensation. Article 82 of the UK GDPR sets out this right for those affected by a breach of their personal data.

To learn what potential steps you could take should a Santander data breach occur, please get in touch using the number above.

How Common Are Data Breaches At A Bank? 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is an independent body responsible for upholding information rights. They can carry out investigations and take enforcement action if an organisation fails to comply with data protection law.

Additionally, they collate data security incident trends that show there were a total of 32,541 incidents, both cyber and non-cyber reported between Quarter 2 of 2019 and Quarter 2 of 2022.

Of these, 3,082 were reported in the finance, insurance and credit sector. This included both cyber and non-cyber incidents.

If A Santander Data Breach Occurred, What Data Could This Include?

Personal data is information that can be used to either directly identify you or when processed in combination with other personal information. It can include:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Home address
  • Date of birth
  • Mobile or telephone number
  • Bank account details, including your credit or debit card information.

Some categories of personal data are considered more sensitive and, as such, require additional protection. This is referred to as special category data and can include:

  • Information about a trade union membership
  • Biometric data
  • Information about your racial or ethnic origin
  • Information about your sexual orientation

If your personal information is affected in a data breach, it could impact you in different ways. Learn more in the section below.

How Could You Be Affected Should A Santander Data Breach Happen?

You might wonder about the impact of a bank data breach. These incidents that affect your personal data could impact you both financially or psychologically. 

A bank data breach may involve your financial data being compromised. As a result, you may suffer financial loss. For example, if a cyber criminal accesses your bank account information, they could potentially use this data to make transactions in your name.

Additionally, cyber criminals may use your financial data to threaten and coerce money from you. Subsequently, you may be put under a lot of pressure and this could cause you stress. The impact of stress due to a data breach may affect your personal relationships.

You could also experience a psychological impact from a personal data breach. For example, you could develop mental health problems such as:

  • Anxiety
  • Stress
  • Depression
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder

To learn what steps you could take should a Santander data breach occur and your personal data is affected, get in touch on the number above.

What Can I Do After A Breach Of My Personal Data?

Following a personal data breach, an organisation needs to:

  • Report the breach to the ICO within 72 hours if it affects a data subject’s rights and freedoms.
  • Inform the data subject of the breach if it affects their rights and freedoms.

Additionally, you could:

  • Contact the organisation to learn more about the nature of the personal data breach, including what information was affected and the steps they intend to take.
  • Contact the ICO if the organisation failed to respond or didn’t give you a suitable response. The ICO could choose to investigate your complaint and the findings from their investigation could be used as evidence if you are eligible to seek compensation.

To learn what action you could take if a Santander data breach were to occur, please get in touch on the number above.

Calculating Data Breach Compensation

After a successful data breach claim, you could receive compensation for:

  • Material damage: This relates to any financial loss caused by a data breach. As such, make sure to keep hold of any bank statements or receipts that could provide evidence of material damage.
  • Non-material damage: This refers to any psychological injuries caused by a data breach, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety.

Legal professionals may value psychological injuries in the same way they would when valuing injuries in personal injury claims. As such, they can refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to estimate data breach compensation for non-material damage.

We have taken guideline compensation amounts from the JCG to create the table below. However, please note that the amounts featured below are just estimates and do not include the exact figure you might receive for a claim.

InjuryCompensation RangeNotes
Severe Mental Harm (a)£54,830 to £115,730The person's relationships, work and education are markedly affected as well as other areas of life. They have a very poor prognosis.
Moderately Severe Mental Harm (b)£19,070 to £54,830The person's life, education, work and relationship's are affected significantly but the prognosis is better than in more severe cases.
Moderate Mental Harm (c)£5,860 to £19,070The person will have made a noticeable improvement and will have a good prognosis.
Less Severe Mental Harm (d)£1,540 to £5,860Factors such as how long and how much the person is affected will be taken into consideration.
Severe Anxiety Disorder (a)£59,860 to £100,670All areas of the person's life are impacted in a negative way.
Moderately Severe Anxiety Disorder (b)£23,150 to £59,860The person has a prognosis which is better than in more severe cases.
Moderate Anxiety Disorder (c)£8,180 to £23,150The person has made a large recovery. If they experience any ongoing issues, they won't be majorly disabling.
Less Severe Anxiety Disorder (d)£3,950 to £8,180The person has made a mostly full recovery within a couple of years.

Learn more about the compensation you could receive for the impact you have experienced as a result of a personal data breach, get in touch on the number above.

Learn If A No Win No Fee Solicitor Could Help You

Has a bank data breach affected you? You might want to know what steps you could take next. Our team is here 24/7 to offer free, friendly legal advice. An advisor could also connect you with a solicitor from our panel, provided you have a valid claim that has a chance of success. 

They can offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis, such as a Conditional Fee Agreement. Under the terms of this agreement, you won’t pay a fee for your solicitor’s service if the claim fails. If the claim is a success, you will pay a percentage of your compensation to your solicitor.

To learn more about having a solicitor represent your claim on this basis, get in touch on the number above.

Contact Us For More Information On Data Breach Claims

We hope this guide on the steps you could take if a Santander data breach were to occur has helped. However, if you have any other questions, please get in touch by:

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Thank you for reading this guide on the steps you could take should a Santander data breach occur and your personal data is affected. For more information, call on the number above.

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