Local authority data breach legal advice

You may be eligible to make a claim for compensation as a victim of a local authority data breach. We can offer you free, no-obligation advice about your options.

As expert Data Leak Lawyers, we’ve been asked for help from thousands of people over the years we’ve been fighting for data breach justice. One of the most common types of individual claims that we take forward involve the victim’s local authority. And with local authorities holding a wealth of personal and sensitive data about huge numbers of people, these kinds of breaches can be severe.

You may be able to make a council data breach compensation claim. You may also be able to make a case for a breach from social services as well. Read on for more advice.

Types of local authority data breach incidents

There are lots of ways that you can fall victim to a local authority data breach. Local authority cases encompass a number of things, which include:

• Your local council;
• Social services;
• Third-party private companies used by your local authority;
• School data breaches.

If the ultimate control falls within the scope of the local authority, they may be the organisation you make your case against. Some third-party contractors may have their own insurance to deal with cases, but you should still be able to make a claim either way.

When can you make a claim?

You may be eligible to make local authority data breach claim if your information has been leaked, hacked, or has been otherwise breached.

There are so many ways it can happen, and these can include:

• Email and postal leaks (your data being sent to the wrong recipient, for example);
• A website or server hack;
• Your information being accidentally shared or published online (this has happened more than once and across multiple different local authorities);
• Your information being left abandoned or not being disposed of properly.

There can be other ways as well. The best thing to do is run your circumstances by our team, and we can see if we can help you.

How much can you claim?

A data breach claim for compensation is valued based on the nature of the information that is involved in the incident, and who it has been exposed to. We can look at the distress caused over the loss of control of your personal and private information, and we can of course look at any financial losses incurred as well.

Importantly, you don’t have to have lost money to be able to make a claim. Your case can be built on the distress alone, and in local authority data breach incidents, this can be severe. They often hold a wealth of personal and sensitive data about people.

You can read more about data breach compensation amounts on our specialist advice page here.

Taking a claim forward for a local authority data breach

If you want to take a legal case forward as a victim of a local authority data breach incident, here’s what you need to know:

1. All of our initial advice is available for you on a free and no-obligation basis. You’ve nothing to lose in making an inquiry with us;
2. We can offer No Win, No Fee arrangements so what have you got to lose if the case doesn’t win?
3. We’re open until 10pm on most weeknights and we’re open most weekends from 9am to 5pm.