Medical Conditions Data Breach – How To Claim Compensation

If your medical or health data has been compromised, you may be wondering if you could make a medical conditions data breach claim. In this guide, we will explore what a breach of medical data could look like, who could be eligible to make a claim, and how personal data is defined. 

Medical conditions data breach

Medical conditions data breach claims guide

We will also look at how legal professionals calculate personal data breach compensation, and detail guideline compensation brackets in our compensation calculator table. Finally, we will explain how one of our solicitors could help you through the medical data breach claims process.

Our advisors are available 24/7 to answer any questions you might have about your claim and the claims process. They can provide free legal advice and may be able to put you in contact with one of our solicitors. If your data has been breached, get in touch:

Select A Section

  1. What Is A Medical Conditions Data Breach?
  2. Types Of Medical Conditions Data Breaches
  3. Examples Of Fines Issued For Medical Data Breaches
  4. Who Could Have Access To Data About Your Medical Conditions?
  5. Calculating Compensation For A Medical Conditions Data Breach
  6. Get Help With A Medical Conditions Data Breach Claim

What Is A Medical Conditions Data Breach?

The legislation in place to protect UK residents’ personal data are the Data Protection Act 2018, along with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Personal data is any information that could identify you and is protected by these laws. But under this legislation, a type of personal data known as special category data, such as your health data, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation, is also protected under these laws. This is a type of personal data that requires extra protection as a result of its sensitive nature. 

Data controllers decide how and why they use your data, and data processors process this data on their behalf. Both must comply with data protection legislation, but if they fail to do so, you may suffer harm as a result of a personal data breach.

When a security incident affects your personal data’s confidentiality, integrity or availability, this is a personal data breach. If a personal data breach occurs as a result of an organisation’s failings and you suffer harm, you may be eligible to claim.

Contact our advisors today to find out if you could have a valid medical conditions data breach claim. If your claim is eligible, they may put you in contact with one of our expert solicitors.

Types of Medical Conditions Data Breach

Data breaches can happen in a number of ways, either through cyber-attacks or non-cyber incidents. However, not every personal data breach will result in a claim. This is because to make a claim, the breach must be a result of the organisation’s failings. You must also suffer harm if you wish to claim for a breach. 

Some examples of how a medical conditions data breach could occur:

  • Failure to use BCC: Failing to use the blind carbon copy (BCC) feature in an email could expose your email address to other recipients. For example, if you receive a mass email from a GP surgery aimed at patients with a specific illness, but the BCC feature is not in use, this could reveal information about your health to others who are not authorised to access this information.
  • Lost records: As we mentioned earlier, information regarding your health requires special protection under the law. This means that organisations must store it safely. If an organisation loses your medical records, this could result in significant stress and anxiety.
  • Information sent to the wrong address: Organisations must ensure that the records they keep are up to date. If an organisation keeps outdated records, this could lead to letters containing your medical data being sent to the wrong address and accessed by unauthorised parties.

Our advisors can offer you free legal advice and can give you more information about the claims process.

Examples Of Fines Issued For Medical Data Breaches

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is an independent body that is able to investigate data breaches and issue fines to organisations that breach data protection law. 

Nearly 2000 patients of the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in London who were being seen at a gender identity clinic had their emails revealed when a mass email was sent out. Instead of using the blind carbon copy BCC field, their emails could be seen by whoever was sent the email. The ICO fined the Trust £78,400 for certain infringements of the UK GDPR.

Contact our advisors today to find out if your medical conditions data breach case could be valid.

Who Could Have Access To Data About Your Medical Conditions?

There are many organisations that could have access to data regarding your medical conditions, including:

These organisations must ensure that they comply with data protection laws. Contact our team to learn more.

Calculating Compensation For A Medical Conditions Data Breach

If you make a personal data breach claim, you could claim for material damage, non-material damage, or both.

  • Non-material damage: This covers a breach’s impact on your mental health. This can include psychological injuries such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
  • Material damage: This refers to the financial impacts of a breach. For example, illegal charges made on your credit card, or damage to your credit score.

The Court of Appeal ruling of Vidal-Hall and Others Vs Google Inc [2015] now allows you to claim for non-material damage without claiming material damage alongside it. 

The figures in the table below are guideline compensation brackets taken from the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), published in 2022. These brackets are often used by solicitors to help assign a value to claims for non-material damage.

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Psychological Injuries Compensation bracket Description
Severe Mental Harm £54,830 to £115,730 Marked issues coping with daily life.
Moderately Severe Mental Harm £19,070 to £54,830 Similar to above with a slightly more optimistic prognosis.
Moderate Mental Harm £5,860 to £19,070 Symptoms show improvement by the time of trial.
Less Severe Mental Harm £1,540 to £5,860 Consideration given to remaining symptoms and length of disability.
Severe Anxiety Disorder £59,860 to £100,670 No function at the pre-trauma level.
Moderately Severe Anxiety Disorder £23,150 to £59,860 Some chance of recovery with professional help, although the effects are still likely to be severe.
Moderate Anxiety Disorder £8,180 to £23,150 A near full recovery, although the continuing effects still have an impact.
Less Severe Anxiety Disorder £3,950 to £8,180 A full recovery with minor to no symptoms after 1-2.

For a free estimation of the value of your medical conditions data breach claim, you can get in touch with our team today.

Get Help With A Medical Conditions Data Breach Claim

Data breaches fall under a complex area of the law, and starting a claim can seem daunting. However, one of our solicitors could guide you through the claims process, funded by a No Win No Fee arrangement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

Under a CFA, you do not pay any upfront fees to your solicitor. This is because if your claim succeeds, they will take a success fee from your award. This fee has a legal cap. However, if your claim does not succeed, you will not pay this fee.

To find out how one of our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors could help you, contact our advisors today:

Related Healthcare And Medical Conditions Data Breach Claims

For more helpful guides:

Alternatively, for additional information:

Contact our advisors for more information on making a medical conditions data breach claim.

Guide by EW

Edited by CH