Claiming For Depression Due To A Data Breach

How to Claim for Depression Due to a Data Breach

How to Claim for Depression Due to a Data Breach

If you’ve experienced depression due to a data breach, you might wonder if you could claim compensation. We explore what depression is and how to claim for a data breach in this guide. 

Firstly, we examine how a data breach could occur. Then we look at whether a data breach could impact your mental health with examples of symptoms. 

Some data requires special protection. We take a look at what that data might be. In addition, we illustrate how many times that data has been involved in a data security incident with statistics. 

Your personal data must be handled securely. We examine the legislation that is in place to help protect your personal information. Then we explore what to do if you think your data has been breached and to who to report the breach. 

You might be able to claim depression data breach compensation. There are two types of damages you could potentially claim for. We examine both of these with examples of what you could claim. Then we discuss how to make a No Win No Fee compensation claim. 

To discuss your potential claim for depression due to a data breach, get in touch with our advisors:

Select A Section

  1. What Is Depression Due To A Data Breach?
  2. How Could People Be Affected By Data Breaches?
  3. What Is Special Category Data?
  4. How To Claim If Your Data Privacy Was Breached
  5. What Could You Claim For Depression Due To A Data Breach?
  6. Make Your Claim For The Psychological Impact Of A Data Breach Today

What Is Depression Due To A Data Breach?

We have stringent laws in this country, that we will examine as we go through this guide, that protect the personal information that is processed by organisations. Data controllers are generally organisations that collect our personal information. However, they must ensure that the personal data that is collected is kept safe and secure. 

Data breaches can be caused by a variety of issues including:

  • Human error –  sending an email containing medical data to the wrong recipient.
  • Lax or out-of-date cybersecurity – allowing cybercriminals to infiltrate databases that contain personal data. 
  • Lost/stolen devices – that contain personal financial information.

Data breaches can contain personal information such as your contact details, national insurance number, and passport number but they can also expose financial information such as credit card details or medical data. If this information is exposed you may not only face financial losses but your mental health may suffer greatly. 

Symptoms of depression could include:

  • Low mood or sadness
  • Feelings of hopelessness and helplessness
  • Low self-esteem
  • Guilt
  • Lack of enjoyment
  • Loss of motivation and interest

Data breach victims could have a potential compensation claim if they have experienced depression due to a data breach and that data breach was caused by a failure on the part of those responsible for protecting the data to secure it correctly. Contact our advisors to start your claim today. 

How Could People Be Affected By Data Breaches?

Emotional distress could occur due to a data breach. The feelings of privacy invasion, vulnerability and sleeping difficulties could lead to a diagnosis of psychological illness. 

These could include:

  • Adjustment disorder
  • Depressive disorder
  • Generalised anxiety disorder
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder

The data breach itself or the subsequent mental health impact could lead to:

  • Needing to move both house and area
  • Losing a job
  • Negative impact on relationships

If you’ve experienced depression due to a data breach contact our advisors about your potential claim.

What Is Special Category Data?

Data that requires more protection is classed as special category data. This includes data about your health. Data security incident trends are collected by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). 467 data security incidents affecting health data were reported for the third fiscal quarter of 2021/22. 

Other personal information that is considered special category data include:

  • Racial or ethnic origin data
  • Political opinions data
  • Religious or philosophical beliefs data
  • Trade union membership data
  • Genetic data;
  • Biometric data
  • Health data
  • A person’s sex life and sexual orientation data.

How To Claim If Your Data Privacy Was Breached

You might be wondering how to deal with a data protection breach?. The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) which runs alongside the updated Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) regulates how data should be processed.

Data protection laws allow a data subject to make a data breach claim if their personal data has been breached, this breach happened through the failure of the data controller or processor to secure the data and they suffered as a consequence. 

Steps to take if your personal data has been breached:

Firstly, you need concrete proof that your personal data has been breached. You may be notified by the data controller. However, the data controller may not be aware of the breach. If you are contacted by an organisation and informed of a breach, keep this document. An organisation must inform you if your rights have been affected in a data breach without undue delay. 

If you notice suspicious activity, such as unexpected marketing phone calls, then your data may have been breached. You can contact the organisation you believe is responsible for the breach. They must tell you if your personal data has been breached, how this happened and what they will do to rectify the issue. 

If you aren’t satisfied with the outcome of informing the data controller, you could make a complaint to the ICO. 

You could seek legal advice at any time about your eligibility to make a personal data breach claim. 

For advice on whether you could make a claim for depression due to a data breach call our advisors today. 

What Could You Claim For Depression Due To A Data Breach?

You could claim compensation under two heads for a data breach. We discuss each head in further detail below.

Material Damages

If you’ve experienced financial loss due to a data breach, you could claim material damages. This could be someone using your bank details to make purchases. It could also cover future financial loss, such as a change in credit rating. 

Non-material Damages

Due to the Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc (2015) ruling, you do not need to experience material damages to claim non-material damages for a data breach. You could claim mental health compensation under this head. 

Solicitors refer to a document titled the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help value injuries. Psychological damage, such as depression is included. Potential compensation brackets are listed alongside injuries.

To fully access your psychological injuries, you will be invited to an independent medical appointment. We have included mental health examples in the table below. Contact our advisors to discuss what damages you could claim for depression due to a data breach. 

Psychological Injury Notes Potential Compensation
Less severe post traumatic stress disorder Only minor symptoms persist beyond 1-2 years £3,710 to £7,680
Less severe general psychiatric damage Daily activities and sleep may have been impacted for the length of the injury. £1,440 to £5,500
Moderate post traumatic stress disorder` Largely recovered with remaining non-grossly disabling symptoms. £7,680 to £21,730
Moderate general psychiatric damage Good prognosis and improvement after difficulties in relationships and coping with life. £5,500 to £17,900
Moderately severe post traumatic stress disorder Likely to cause significant disability for the foreseeable future but some recovery with professional help. £21,730 to £56,180
Moderately severe general psychiatric damage Significant problems coping with life and relationships. £17,900 to £51,460
Severe post traumatic stress disorder Prevented from functioning at pre-trauma level permanently. £56,180 to £94,470
Severe general psychiatric damage Inability to cope with life and relationships with a poor prognosis. £51,460 to £108,620

Make Your Claim For The Psychological Impact Of A Data Breach Today

If you have depression due to a data breach, caused by the failure of a data controller to keep your information confidential you may be thinking of making a personal data breach claim. 

You could use a No Win No Fee arrangement, such as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) as a way to hire legal representation with minimised financial risk.  

There are no upfront solicitors fees under No Win No Fee. Instead, a legally capped success fee is taken from the awards of successful claims. 

Our advisors can give you free legal advice about your potential depression due to a data breach claim. They can also estimate your damages. If your claim seems eligible you might be connected to our panel of solicitors. 

To get in touch:

Resources Related To Data Breach Mental Health Claims

You might find the following links helpful for depression due to a data breach:

And more guides: