What Are My Rights After A Pharmacy Data Breach?

By Danielle Griffin. Last Updated 28th March 2023. Welcome to our guide, which explains how to make a GDPR claim against a pharmacy for a data breach that harmed you. In it, we explain who could make a pharmacy data breach claim. We explained what could happen if a pharmacy breached patient data, and discuss how does GDPR affect a pharmacy.

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What are my rights after a Pharmacy data breach guide

Further to this, we explain how we could help eligible claimants claim the medical data breach compensation they deserve. We explain how a data protection breach compensation amount for a UK claim could be calculated and answer the question: ‘How much compensation will I get for a data breach?’ Furthermore, if you’re seeking to claim breach of data protection compensation, we show you how we could help you.

Could You Make A Pharmacy Data Breach Claim?

Have you experienced a pharmacy data breach? If so, unauthorised parties may have accessed your personal medical records or other confidential information. As a result of the violation of your privacy, you may have suffered emotional distress. Furthermore, cybercriminals with malicious intent may have used your personal data to target you for fraud or identity theft. This can lead to financial losses.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, data controllers (who decide how and why your data will be used) should take measures to protect your data. An example of a potential data controller is a pharmacy.

Accident Claims UK could help you if a pharmacy has breached your personal data. Whether you are a customer or an employee, we could put you in touch with a data breach solicitor to handle your claim. To see if you could claim compensation for a data breach in a pharmacy, contact us now on 0800 073 8801 or use our live chat. Alternatively, continue reading this guide to learn more.

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What Is A Pharmacy Data Breach?

Before we look at what you could claim for a compromise in your protected personal data, we are going to look at what a pharmacy data breach is. The laws in place to help protect personal data are the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR.

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) defines a data breach as a security incident that could affect the confidentiality, availability or integrity of your personal data.

You may wonder what personal data is. It is information that can identify a person, or lead to them being identified when combined with other pieces of data. It can include your name, address and email address.

Additionally, some of your personal data may class as special category data. This is personal data that is given extra protection under the UK GDPR due to its sensitivity. Some of this personal data may be stored by a pharmacy; including your genetic data, medical information, sex life and sexual orientation.

It is under Article 82 of the UK GDPR that you could become eligible for compensation if your protected pharmacy data was compromised. You will need to prove that your protected personal data was included in the breach and that the breach occurred because the data controller or processor failed to adhere to the data protection legislation. You must also have evidence that shows you suffered financial and/or material harm as a direct result.

A data controller is typically an organisation. They decide how data will be processed and for what purpose. For example, a pharmacy may store protected personal data related to your prescriptions. Additionally, the data controller may outsource this to a data processor.

Time Limits For Pharmacy Data Breach Claims

If your personal data was included in a data breach, the organisation must inform you without undue delay if this compromise can affect your rights.

Should you be informed that a data breach involved your personal data and you experience harm as a result, you must start your claim within the time limit. This is typically six years from the date of the data breach. However, if you are claiming against a public body, this is reduced to one year.

Call our advisors if your protected personal data has been compromised. If you have an eligible claim, they could help you get legal proceedings started right away.

When Could You Make A UK GDPR Data Breach Claim?

We recommend you take the following steps if you were affected by a pharmacy data breach. Firstly, contact the pharmacy where the data breach took place. The business may be able to resolve the problem internally.

However, what should you do if you are not satisfied with the response from the company? We recommend you report the data breach to the ICO. The ICO may investigate.

After that, you could contact Accident Claims UK to see if you have grounds to claim compensation. To be eligible to claim compensation, your personal data must have been breached. And, as a result, you must have experienced suffering (such as emotional distress or financial loss).

We will speak to you in-depth about your ordeal. Additionally, a skilled data breach lawyer could be assigned to work on your case if they can see that you have a formidable claim and are owed compensation.

What Evidence Could Support Your Pharmacy Data Breach Claim?

Do you wish to make a compensation claim for a data breach that caused you to suffer? You (or your solicitor, if you choose to use their services) will need to present evidence to support your compensation claim.

The following could count as evidence to support a pharmacist data breach claim:

  • A report to the ICO that the data breach has taken place.
  • A data breach notification that you received from the company.
  • Your medical records, if you suffered psychological injuries  such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Similarly, you can present banking information to prove your financial losses.

Pharmacy Data Breach – How Much Compensation Could I Receive?

Let us now turn to looking at the compensation amounts you could claim for psychological injuries such as data breach distress. If you’re wondering how much you could claim for a pharmacy data breach that is caused you psychological injuries, the answer would depend on the level of suffering you’d experienced. We have provided a rough indication of figures for specific psychological injuries in the table below. We could provide you with more personalised information over the phone, however.

After a breach of data protection, compensation could be awarded if you can demonstrate that your personal data was affected in a breach that was caused by a data controller or data processor’s failings.

If you make a successful personal data breach claim, you could receive compensation for different types of damage. Non-material damage relates to the psychological harm caused by the data breach. Material damage relates to the financial losses caused by the data breach.

Legal professionals could seek guidance from the Judicial College Guidelines. This publication provides guideline compensation brackets for different types of psychological harm. We’ve used these in the table below.

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Psychological Injury Type Notes On The Injury Estimate Of The Settlement
Severe Psychiatric Damage Victims might have suffered severe forms of psychiatric injury which could cause issues with relationships, training, work or education and the prognosis would be very poor. £54,830 to £115,730
Moderately Severe Psychiatric Damage Victims might experience problems with factors already highlighted. Victims should have a better outlook than the most serious category. £19,070 to £54,830
Moderate Psychiatric Damage Victims may experience problems in areas of their life such as in training and education, work or general relationships. £5,860 to £19,070
Less Severe Psychiatric Damage The person who has been affected will suffer factors such as impairment of daily activities and sleep. The level of compensation will take account of the lasting effects on the claimant. £1,540 to £5,860
Severe PTSD The person affected will not be able to function as they did before the trauma and permanent effects will be involved. £59,860 to £100,670
Moderately Severe PTSD Victims in this category should already have made some degree of recovery. £23,150 to £59,860
Moderate PTSD Victims already should have made a full recovery when the claim is made. The claimant could still experience some residual effects of PTSD. £8,180 to £23,150
Less Severe PTSD A full recovery should be made within a 1 to 2 year period. Only minor symptoms would persist. £3,950 to £8,180

Please only use the figures as a guide. If you want a free estimate of what your medical data breach compensation claim could be worth, please get in touch with our team on the number above.

No Win No Fee Patient Data Breach Claims Against A Pharmacy

Some solicitors handle data breach claims on a No Win No Fee basis. This is sometimes called a Conditional Fee Agreement. What does No Win No Fee mean? It is a contract whereby the solicitor will agree to meet certain conditions before they charge you a solicitor’s fee.

A No Win No Fee agreement means that:

  • You won’t have to pay an upfront solicitor’s fee.
  • You won’t have to pay a solicitor’s fee if your claim is unsuccessful.
  • There’ll be no need to pay a solicitor’s fee while your claim is ongoing.

What happens if your data breach claim is successful? Your solicitor would deduct their fee from your compensation payout in the form of a legally capped ‘success fee‘. To see if your claim can be funded by a No Win No Fee agreement, call Accident Claims UK to speak to an advisor.

Talk To An Advisor

To begin your pharmacy data breach compensation claim, call Accident Claims UK to speak to an advisor. After that, we could connect you with a data breach lawyer to start working on your claim.

Contact us using the details below:

FAQs On GDPR Breach Compensation Claims

Let’s take some time to answer some frequently asked questions about claiming compensation for a data breach.

What is a GDPR data breach claim?

A data breach is a security incident that compromises the protection of personal data. Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), organisations should protect the data they hold. Therefore data breaches violate the GDPR. Individuals could claim compensation from the data controller responsible for not protecting victims from a data breach.

How Common Is A Pharmacy Data Breach?

When we look at the statistics surrounding the sectors in which data breach reports have been sent to the ICO, we can see from Quarter 2 of 2021- 22 that healthcare is the sector that most commonly experiences data breaches.

pharmacy data breach statistics graph

You might be surprised, however, to learn that the most common causes of data breaches are not related to cybercriminality. Instead, the most common cause of data breaches in Q2 was sending data via email to the wrong person. Unfortunately, we do not have data directly relating to how many pharmacy data breaches there has been to this point. However, this should give you a picture of how common such healthcare data breaches could be.

How long do I have to make a claim?

There is a time limit for beginning a data breach claim in the UK. The limit is six years. However, if the case involved a human rights violation, there is a one-year time limit.

What are the different types of data breaches?

Here are some of the different types of data breaches:

  • Personal data is lost
  • Personal data is accessed by unauthorised persons
  • Data is stolen
  • A data exposure incident takes place.

How does GDPR affect a pharmacy?

When it comes to the effects of GDPR on a pharmacy, the rules for GDPR apply just as stringently as other organisations. Pharmacies must keep personal, financial and medical information secure. Should they act wrongly, exposing a patient’s personal data, it could cause significant harm to the affected party. They could suffer loss of privacy, financial loss and mental distress. 

If you have fallen victim because a pharmacy breached your patient data, please call our team. We could assess your eligibility to make a pharmacy data breach claim.

Related Data Breach Guides

External Guides Relating To A Pharmacy Data Breach Claim

A guide to personal data breaches from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

An ICO guide to identity theft and how to prevent it.

Government guidance on data breaches.

Thank you for reading our guide to pharmacy data breach claims.