This is a guide to making a personal data breach claim after your information was involved in a sexual health clinic data breach. If your personal data is compromised in a breach, it could lead to you suffering from financial losses, for example, money stolen from your bank account. Also, it could cause you to suffer psychiatric damage, such as stress, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
As we move through this guide, we will explain the criteria of eligibility that must be met to bring forward a compensation claim for the impact a personal data breach can have.
Sexual health clinic data breach claims guide
We will also examine the legislation in place that outlines data protection, the evidence you could gather to strengthen your potential claim, and how compensation could be calculated.
Additionally, we will discuss how you could benefit from working with a solicitor under a No Win No Fee agreement.
You can also get in contact with one of our advisors at any time to enquire about making a personal data breach compensation claim. They are able to offer free legal advice 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To reach them, you can:
- Call our team on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us via our webpage
- Use our live chat feature on this page
Select A Section
- What Is A Sexual Health Clinic Data Breach?
- Who Could Claim For A Sexual Health Clinic Data Breach?
- What Evidence Could Support Your Data Breach Case?
- What Compensation Could You Claim For After A Sexual Health Clinic Data Breach?
- Talk To Our Team About No Win No Fee Data Breach Compensation Claims
- Learn More About Sexual Health Clinic Data Breaches
What Is A Sexual Health Clinic Data Breach?
There are two central pieces of legislation responsible for protecting the storage and use of personal data: the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). This data can be in either physical or digital form.
They lay out the rules that data controllers and processors must adhere to when handling personal data. Data processors are employed by data controllers to act on their behalf, as data controllers have overarching power regarding the purposes and means of handling personal data.
The UK GDPR explains that the term personal data means any information that can identify a natural person, known as a data subject. This data can be used alone or in conjunction with other information to identify the data subject. Sexual health clinics could handle a range of personal data about their clients and their employees. This may include:
- Names
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Home address
- Details on a debit or credit card
Also, Article 9 provides information regarding personal data referred to as special category data. This is information that requires extra protection. This includes information concerning health, such as medical data as well as data relating to a person’s sex life, and sexual orientation. All of which a sexual health clinic could handle regarding their clients.
The independent body known as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) upholds information rights in the UK. They provide a useful definition of a personal data breach: a breach of security leading to the integrity, availability, and confidentiality of your data being compromised.
If your personal data has been involved in a sexual health clinic data breach, call our advisors to learn the steps you could take.
Who Could Claim For A Sexual Health Clinic Data Breach?
The UK GDPR provides a way for data subjects harmed by a personal data breach to pursue compensation. There is a criterion of eligibility that must be met to bring forward a sexual health clinic data breach claim. This is as follows:
- There were failings in complying with data protection laws on the part of the data controller or processor responsible for your personal information.
- This led to a breach involving your personal data.
- As a result, you suffered psychiatric damage and/or financial losses.
If your case meets these criteria, you could be eligible to pursue compensation.
Limitation Periods For Data Breach Claims
Generally, a personal data breach claim should be initiated within 6 years of the incident. However, there are certain conditions that can affect this limitation period. For example, if you are bringing a claim against a public body, you would have just 1 year to start your claim.
Please contact a member of our team for insight into eligibility and the limitation period applicable to your potential data breach claim.
What Evidence Could Support Your Data Breach Case?
If the rights and freedoms of data subjects are at risk due to a personal data breach, the data controller must notify you without undue delay. Additionally, they must report the incident to the ICO within 72 hours. If you suspect the occurrence of a breach or you have received a notification saying your personal data has been compromised, you should first contact the sexual health clinic directly. You could use this correspondence as evidence for your claim.
However, if the response from the sexual health clinic is unsatisfactory, you can then report a data breach to the ICO. It is important to note that they are unable to award compensation. Although they may investigate the breach and any findings that support your claim, you could provide as evidence of your case.
Please contact a member of our team to discuss the evidence you could obtain to strengthen your personal data breach claim.
What Compensation Could You Claim For A Sexual Health Clinic Data Breach?
For a successful personal data breach claim, you could receive an award for the non-material damage and the material damage that you suffered. Non-material damage is the psychiatric harm caused by a personal data breach.
We have provided a table below containing guideline compensation brackets for psychiatric harm. These have been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Data breach solicitors can refer to this document to help them value non-material damage.
The brackets in this table are a guide and not an exact representation of the award you could receive.
Compensation Table
| Type of Harm | Severity | Details | Guideline Compensation Brackets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Damage | (a) Severe | The person will have marked problems with various factors in their life, such as their ability to cope with work or education and they will have a very poor prognosis. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Psychiatric Damage | (b) Moderately Severe | The person will have significant problems with various factors in their life, such as their ability to cope with work or education but their prognosis will be much more optimistic than in the severe bracket above. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Psychiatric Damage | (c) Moderate | The person will have had some of the problems discussed above. However, their prognosis will be good and they will make a marked improvement by trial. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Psychiatric Damage | (d) Less Severe | The level that daily life and sleep are affected and how long this lasts will be considered in this bracket. | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| PTSD | (a) Severe | Cases of this severity will involve permanent effects stopping the person from functioning at any level near the one they did before the trauma. It will badly affect all aspects of the person's life. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| PTSD | (b) Moderately Severe | This bracket differs from the one above as there will be a better prognosis due to some recovery with the aid of a professional. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| PTSD | (c) Moderate | In cases of this severity, the person will have largely recovered, with any continuing effects not being grossly disabling. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| PTSD | (d) Less Severe | With only minor symptoms persisting, the person will have made a virtually full recovery in 1 - 2 years. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
How Material Damage Could Also Compensate You
Material damage, which you could also receive an award for, is the monetary loss suffered due to the personal data breach. This can include:
- Credit score damage
- Money taken from your bank accounts
- Loss of earnings
You must provide evidence of these losses to claim compensation for material damage. This could include bank records, payslips, and a copy of your credit history. Please speak to a member of our team to enquire about the compensation you could be eligible to receive.
Talk To Our Team About No Win No Fee Data Breach Compensation Claims
Use the details provided in this guide to get in contact with our team of advisors. Should they assess your case and find that you may have valid grounds to make a data breach claim, they could place you in contact with one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.
If you choose to work with a No Win No Fee solicitor, you may be offered to enter into a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This type of agreement means that you typically won’t make any payments for the services provided by your No Win No Fee solicitor at the following times:
- Upfront
- During the time your claim is ongoing
- In the case that your claim is unsuccessful
On the other hand, if your claim should succeed, a solicitor working under a CFA can take a small percentage of the compensation. This success fee is capped by legislation and will have been discussed between you and your solicitor before you entered the agreement.
Get In Touch
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch and discuss your personal data breach claim with our team. They are available at all hours of the day. Therefore, you can reach out at a time most convenient for you.
To get in touch:
- Call our team on 0161 696 9685
- Contact us via our webpage
- Use our live chat feature on this page
Learn More About Sexual Health Clinic Data Breaches
If you would like to learn more from our guides, explore the links below:
- Private Healthcare Provider GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide
- My HIV Data Was Breached – Can I Claim?
- My Medical Information Has Been Shared – Could I Make A Claim?
- Learn how to make a gender identity clinic data breach claim with our guide
Also, you can take a look at some of our external sources:
- Get urgent help for mental health – NHS
- Data breaches: guidance for individuals and families – National Cyber Security Centre
- Your right to get your data deleted – ICO
Thank you for reading this guide to making a sexual health clinic data breach claim after your personal information was compromised. If you have any questions, contact us via the information provided above.