The most wonderful time of the year; for a retail data breach claim

It may be the most wonderful time of the year for all the right reasons, but the festive season, and the weeks leading up to it, can be a hotbed for privacy events that could entitle you to pursue a retail data breach claim.

Unfortunately, hackers and scammers do exploit this time of the year when they know that retailers will often be very busy, and when they know that online shopping can reach its peaks. It is the ideal time for criminals to exploit people, and a successful cyberattack could see thousands – even millions – of people affected. As such, we all need to be careful, and we all need to watch out for hackers and scammers.

When you could claim data breach compensation

You could be entitled to bring a retail data breach claim if your information has been exposed or misused in this sector. This could be from:

• Your details being exposed in a cyberattack;
• A retailer, or an employee working for one, disclosing your personal information without your proper and informed consent;
• Your data being leaked by accident;
• Your details being misused – perhaps through marketing campaigns.

Ultimately, you have the right to have control over your personal data and how it is used and stored. If this right is abused or lost, the GDPR could entitle you to claim data breach compensation now.

What you could claim for

In a retail data breach claim, you could be eligible to receive damages for:

• Any distress caused by the loss of control of your personal information;
• Any losses and/or expenses incurred.

Importantly, you do not have to have suffered any actual financial loss to claim. You can claim for just the distress element alone, and this could entitle you to receive thousands of pounds in a data breach compensation pay-out. Usually, in retail cases, payment card data is involved. When this is the case, even if no money has been stolen, you may need to be extra vigilant and keep a very close eye on your accounts. It is not nice to think that your personal information could be in the hands of ruthless criminals, and the distress for this alone could entitle you to a significant pay-out.

In the BA data breach group action we are involved with, where payment card data was exposed, our initial estimates for potential damages is in the £6,000 region.

Pursuing a retail data breach claim

If you have fallen victim to a privacy exposure or misuse event in this sector, you could be entitled to pursue a retail data breach claim. We can represent people for a wide range of incidents, so always get in touch with our expert team here for free, no-obligation advice.

If we are confident enough that we can win your claim, we may be able to represent you for a legal case on a No Win, No Fee basis. It can be stressful enough knowing that your right to privacy has been breached, so our added peace of mind as part of our efforts as advocates of Access to Justice is there for your benefit. We are happy to work this way, and we would not want to work in any other way!

Civil service data breaches and compensation action

High school data breaches