Breach Of Sexual Abuse Data – Can I Claim Compensation?

Experiencing a breach of your personal sexual abuse data can be debilitating, leaving you feeling exposed and isolated. Oftentimes, these feelings can be made worse by mounting financial losses, particularly if you’ve been unable to work after the breach. During this challenging time, you don’t have to face these worries alone. With guidance, support and someone advocating on your behalf, you could receive compensation that can help provide much needed financial relief. Our panel of solicitors have experience supporting sexual abuse data breach claims. 

The Cabinet Office in their Information Security Review 2023 Final Report found that across 2021 to 2023, Norfolk and Suffolk Police announced an accidental publication of data relating to 1,230 sexual abuse victims, witnesses and subjects. This is only one example of how personal and special category data can be breached, and exposed. It does not cover the harm these data subjects may have experienced due to this breach of their personal data. 

You could be eligible to claim data breach compensation with the support of our panel if we can show that emotional distress or financial harm was caused as a result of your data being compromised.

Continue reading to learn more about sexual abuse data breach claims. Alternatively, you can get in touch with our advisory team by using the contact details below:

Contact Us

• Call us on 020 3870 4868
• Fill out our claim online form 
• Speak to an advisor using our live chat

Frequently Asked Questions 

1. Can I Claim Compensation After A Sexual Abuse Data Breach?
2. What Information Could Be Involved In A Breach Of Sexual Abuse Data?
3. What Are The Potential Impacts Of A Sexual Abuse Data Breach?
4. How Much Sexual Abuse Data Breach Compensation Can I Get?
5. Can I Claim For Material Damage After A Breach Of Sexual Abuse Data
6. No Win No Fee Sexual Abuse Data Breach Claims
7. Learn More

Can I Claim Compensation After A Sexual Abuse Data Breach?

You can claim after a sexual abuse data breach if your personal data was compromised after an organisation failed to follow and comply with data protection legislation.  

In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is an independent body governing data protection. They define a personal data breach as a security incident that impacts the integrity, availability or confidentiality of a data subject’s personal data. With this said, to make a claim, it has to be proven that the compromise of your personal data resulted in damage to your mental health or financial harm (or both). Additionally, we must define three relevant parties to establish whether you’d be eligible to claim. In a data breach claim, there is:

• The data subject: A living, identifiable individual to whom the personal data relates. 
• The data controller: The party who controls how your data is processed
• The data processor: An external party who is responsible for handling, storing and processing the data; some controllers can also be the processors themselves.

All companies that process personal data must adhere to both the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. These pieces of legislation place obligations on both data processors and controllers to meet certain standards when handling data. Failure to do so can result in a data breach occurring. 

Moreover, in order for you to be eligible to make a claim, the following must be satisfied:

• A data controller or processor failed to adhere to and comply with data protection laws 
• This failure led to a breach of your sexual abuse data
• Resulting in psychological damage, or financial harm, or both 

For a free case check, contact our advisors today.

What Information Could Be Involved In A Breach Of Sexual Abuse Data?

In a breach of sexual abuse data, different types of information about you can be compromised. For example, personal data which is information that can directly identify you could be breached; this type of information includes:

• Your name
• Address
• National Insurance Number
• Email address
• Phone number

In addition to personal data, there is a category of information that requires further protection, due to its sensitive nature. This type of personal data is called special category information which Article 9 of the UK GDPR defines as:

• Personal data revealing ethnic or racial origin
• Data concerning a person’s sex life 
• Biometric data 
• Genetic data 
• Personal data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs
• Data concerning health 

If you’d like to learn more about what data might have been compromised in your own case, please get in touch with our advisors today. 

What Are The Potential Impacts Of A Sexual Abuse Data Breach?

Suffering a compromise of your sexual abuse data can be isolating and traumatic for individuals. Due to the nature of the data, this type of compromise can feel particularly exposing; with the ICO finding that data breaches can place victims of domestic abuse at risk of further danger. 

Additionally, suffering a compromise of your data can cause the requirement for psychiatric help or therapy, following the worsening mental health conditions, such as anxiety or depression. Not only this, but having your personal or special category data compromised can lead to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, leading to reduced employment prospects.

Ultimately, experiencing a sexual abuse data breach can lead to a breakdown or complete erosion of trust; victims might lose confidence in digital platforms, leading to hesitation in sharing personal information online.

Here at UK Law, we understand how detrimental this type of data breach can be. It can leave you feeling vulnerable and, in some cases, hopeless. With our guidance and support, a solicitor from our panel can help you claim the compensation you deserve. A compensation payout can’t undo the damage caused by a compromise of this data, but it can help offer financial support during a challenging time. 

Get in touch with our advisory team today to discuss how your own data breach has impacted you. With clients at the centre of everything we do, our advisors will listen to your experience and help navigate the sexual abuse data breach claims options available to you. 

How Much Sexual Abuse Data Breach Compensation Can I Get?

All data breach claims are judged on their individual circumstances, with settlements being valued on a case-by-case basis. With this said, the amount of compensation you could receive is dependent on a few factors. The extent to which the breach has financially and psychologically impacted you will be considered.

In a successful data breach claim, you can seek compensation for two different types of damage caused by the data breach. These two types of damage are categorised into non-material damage and material damage.

The first type of damage takes into consideration the mental impact of the breach; considering any effect on anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Conversely, material damage appreciates the financial impact caused by the breach. We discuss this in more detail in our section below. 

However, when your non-material damage is being valued, professionals can refer to frameworks such as the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document provides compensation brackets for certain types of harm caused by data breaches. Our table shows compensation payouts for the psychological damage caused by your personal data breach; the top figure has not been taken from the JCG but all other entries have. This is not a guarantee of compensation.

Type of Harm	Severity	Compensation
Multiple forms of Psychological Harm + Financial Loss	Various severe types of psychological harm and financial losses such as lost income	Up to £250,000+
Psychiatric Damage	Severe (a) - the level that the individual's level of future vulnerability will be considered	£66,920 - £141,240
Psychiatric Damage	Moderately Severe (b) - permanent or long-standing disability preventing a return to comparable employment	£23,270 - £66,920
Psychiatric Damage	Moderate (c) - good prognosis and marked improvement by trial	£7,150 - £23,270
Psychiatric Damage	Less Severe (d) - the amount awarded will be impacted by the length of the period of disability	£1,880 - £7,150
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Severe (a) - permanent effects preventing the individual from working at all	£73,050 - £122,850
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Moderately Severe (b) - some recovery with professional help	£28,250 - £73,050
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Moderate (c) - no grossly disabling continuing effects	£9,980 - £28,250
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Less Severe (d) - virtually a full recovery made within one to two years	£4,820 - £9,980

The best way to get an estimate how much you could be awarded is to ask one of our advisors about sexual abuse data breach claims.

Can I Claim For Material Damage After A Breach Of Sexual Abuse Data

Yes, you can claim for material damage after experiencing a compromise of this data. Material damage can encompass any financial losses caused by the breach, including things such as:

• Lost income, in addition to any impact on future earnings
• Medical costs such as expenses for counselling, therapy or psychiatric help 
• Relocation costs, where it is necessary to protect your safety (for example if your address was breached)
• Security expenses such as the costs for alarms, enhanced cybersecurity or cameras

One of the specialist solicitors from our panel could help you claim and ensure that all of your material damage is calculated and accurately valued. Data breach claims can be complex, so utilising a legal representative with years of experience can be invaluable; from helping you navigate the claims process, to ensuring you receive a settlement that accurately reflects both the psychological and financial implications of suffering this sexual data breach.

Get in touch with our advisors today to learn more about what compensation can be recovered in sexual abuse data breach claims. 

No Win No Fee Sexual Abuse Data Breach Claims

You might be wondering what a No Win No Fee sexual abuse data breach claim is. Our panel works on this basis, through utilising  a contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement, which offers some benefits to clients. 

For example, under this type of contract, you would have no upfront solicitors’ fees to pay. In addition to this, you wouldn’t incur solicitors’ fees during the progression of your claim, and most crucially, you wouldn’t have to pay a penny in solicitors’ fees if your claim were to fail.

On the other hand, if your claim were successful, then a limited percentage would be deductible from your compensation to cover our panel’s success fee. This is capped in line with the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013, ensuring that claimants receive the majority of their compensation. 

Furthermore, the solicitors on our panel ensure that anyone making sexual abuse data breach claims receive support such as:

• Clear, concise communication regarding the progress of your claim 
• Help with any questions or queries 
• Creating a strong body of evidence that can strengthen the basis of your claim 
• Explaining complex language and legal processes
• Acting in your best interests to gain a settlement that is reflective of the damage caused by the breach of your sexual abuse data

Contact UK Law’s Advisors

To be connected with one of our friendly advisors, you can reach them by using the details below:

• Call us on 020 3870 4868
• Fill out our claim online form 
• Speak to an advisor using our live chat

Learn More

Why not read our other guides about:

•  What is a psychiatrist data breach claim?
• How to claim if your data was breached due to human error.
• Make a stolen device data breach claim

External Resources

• How to make a data breach complaint, from GOV.UK
• The National Cyber Security Centre’s guidance for individuals and families
• Information on support from the mental health charity Mind

Thank you for reading our sexual abuse data breach claims guide.