Should a Vodafone data breach occur, you may be uncertain what this would mean for your personal data. In the UK, there are laws in place to protect the use and storage of personal data. Therefore, in this guide, we will explore how a data breach could occur and when this would meet the eligibility criteria to make a compensation claim.
Vodafone Data Breach – When Could You Claim Compensation?
Additionally, we will explain the benefits of using a data breach solicitor to make a claim. Specifically touching on what is meant by the term No Win No Fee agreement.
You can get in touch with our team of advisors today to learn whether you may be eligible to claim compensation for a personal data breach under the UK’s data protection legislation. Our team has access to a panel of experienced data breach solicitors. Therefore, if one of our advisors finds that you may be eligible to make a compensation claim, they could place you in contact with one of the solicitors from our panel.
To speak with our team:
- Call an advisor on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us online, or
- Use the live support feature below to ask a question
Select A Section
- Vodafone Data Breach – When Could You Claim Compensation?
- What Personal Data Does The UK GDPR Cover?
- How Could A Potential Vodafone Data Breach Occur?
- What Evidence Could I Gather If A Data Breach Were To Occur?
- How Much Compensation Could I Receive Following A Data Breach?
- Speak To An Expert
Vodafone Data Breach – When Could You Claim Compensation?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), UK’s independent body responsible for upholding information rights, describes a personal data breach in a broad sense as a security incident affecting the availability, confidentiality, or integrity of personal data.
The relevant data protection legislation is the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). They outline the rules data controllers and processors must follow when handling personal data. Data controllers have overarching power over the means and purposes of processing personal data, and can employ data processors to act on their behalf.
The criteria of eligibility that must be met to bring forward a personal data breach claim are as follows:
- A data controller or processor responsible for handling your personal data failed to comply with the UK GDPR.
- This led to a breach involving your personal data.
- As a result, you sustained financial or mental harm.
If a data breach caused by failings on the part of a data controller or processor has harmed you, please contact Advice.co.uk. An advisor can let you know if you meet the correct criteria to make a data breach compensation claim.
What Personal Data Does The UK GDPR Cover?
Personal data is information about a person that can be used alone or alongside other information to determine their identity. Under the UK GDPR, examples of personal data include:
- Your Name
- Home address
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
- Credit and debit card details
- Passwords
What Is Sensitive Personal Data?
Article 9 of the UK GDPR outlines personal data that is referred to as special category data. This requires extra protection as it is considered sensitive in nature. This includes a data subject’s ethnic or racial origin, political and philosophical beliefs, as well as information regarding their health, such as medical records.
A personal data breach compromising your personal data could negatively affect your life. Criminals could access your personal data and target you for identity theft, leading to money stolen from your bank account and other financial losses. Additionally, affected data subjects may sustain mental health problems, such as stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Should a Vodafone data breach take place, and compromise your personal information, get in touch with a member of our team.
How Could A Potential Vodafone Data Breach Occur?
A personal data breach could happen because of human error. For example, an employee may send a letter containing a customer’s personal data to the wrong postal address. This would be a breach of the data subject’s personal information.
On the other hand, a data breach could be caused by deliberate action. For example, cybercriminals could hack into an online database to access personal data. If this company had no online security system, it would have failed to comply with the UK GDPR and may be responsible for the breach and any harm caused.
Related Data Security Incident Trends
A data controller must report a data breach that affects the rights and freedoms of a data subject to the ICO within 72 hours. The ICO compiles these reports to publish data security incident trends, which show that in the online technology and telecoms sector:
- From Qtr 2 of 2019 to Qtr 2 of 2022, there were 796 incidents reported.
- Of the incidents above, 461 had non-cyber causes, and
- 335 had cyber causes.
What Evidence Could I Gather If A Data Breach Were To Occur?
To claim compensation for a personal data breach, you must provide evidence that the data controller or processor responsible for protecting your personal data failed to adhere to data protection legislation. When gathering evidence you will also need to show how your personal data was breached and subsequently caused you psychological injury or financial losses.
Following a data breach involving your personal information, you can first contact the organisation directly asking for information regarding the breach. Any correspondence can be used as evidence in a personal data breach claim. If the organisation does not respond to your satisfaction, you could report the breach to the ICO. It is important to note that the ICO does not award compensation. However, they can investigate the breach, and any findings from this investigation can be used as evidence.
You could collect medical records, bank records, or payslips to prove the harm you have suffered. We also recommend that you seek legal advice. A solicitor can help you to compile evidence.
If a Vodafone data breach ever occurred and compromised your personal data, please speak to one of our advisors to learn the potential steps you could take.
How Much Compensation Could I Receive Following A Data Breach?
Up to two categories of compensation could be awarded for a successful claim made for a personal data breach. These are known as material damage, which is the financial losses suffered as a result of the personal data breach, and non-material damage, which is the psychological harm incurred due to the personal data breach.
We have included the table below as a guide to non-material damage. We have used bracket amounts found in the 16th edition Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), updated for 2022. Solicitors can also use these guidelines to assist them in valuing settlement amounts.
| Harm | Severity | Notes on this Harm | Payout Guidelines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental Harm | (a) Severe | The person will face marked problems with different factors of their life, such as their relationships and their capability to cope with daily life. Also, they will have a very poor prognosis. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Mental Harm | (b) Moderately Severe | The prognosis is much more positive than in the severe bracket above, though the person will still face significant problems in different factors of their life, such as their relationships and their capability to cope with daily life. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Mental Harm | (c) Moderate | The person may have faced some of the problems laid out in the brackets above, however, they will have made a marked improvement by trial and they will have a good prognosis. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Mental Harm | (d) Less Severe | Factors affecting the compensation amount awarded include how long the disability persisted and how severely this affected the persons daily life. | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| Anxiety Disorder | (a) Severe | The disorder has permanent effects on the person's life, preventing them from functioning as they did before the incident. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| Anxiety Disorder | (b) Moderately Severe | The person has a better prognosis for recovery, to some degree, with a professionals assistance. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| Anxiety Disorder | (c) Moderate | The person will largely recover and any ongoing symptoms will not grossly disable the person. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| Anxiety Disorder | (d) Less Severe | Over one to two years this person will make a virtually full recovery. Only minor symptoms may persist. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
Please consider these figures as a guide. If you would like an estimate of what you may be eligible to receive for your case, please get in touch with our team of advisors.
Speak To An Expert
If a Vodafone data breach ever took place and involved your personal data, our advisors can offer free advice. What’s more, the team can appoint an expert from our panel of data protection solicitors to handle your claim.
A data breach solicitor may offer you the option to enter into a type of No Win No Fee agreement, often called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Here are just a few of the benefits of working with a No Win No Fee solicitor:
- You and your solicitor will discuss any fees and conditions before entering into the agreement.
- Upfront, as your case is ongoing, and if your claim is unsuccessful and does not see an award, there will generally be no payments to make for the services your solicitor provides.
- A success fee will typically be taken from the compensation and paid to a No Win No Fee solicitor under the condition that your claim does succeed. The aforementioned legislation caps this to a small percentage.
To speak with our team at Advice.co.uk:
- Call an advisor on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us online, or
- Use the live support feature below to ask a question
Find Out More nm
These articles may be helpful in providing more information on personal data breach claims:
I Suffered A Text Message Data Breach. How Do I Claim?
Can I Claim For A Breach Of Sickness Information At Work?
Anxiety Caused By A Data Breach – When Could You Claim Compensation?
External links:
NHS – Anxiety, fear and panic
ICO – Nuisance calls
ICO – Your right of access
Thank you for reading this guide on potential steps that could be taken if a Vodafone data breach were to occur and compromise your personal information.