Can I Claim For An App Data Breach?

Mobile apps are an integral part of modern life. We use them for everything from staying touch with friends and family to banking, and even accessing healthcare services. They store and have access to personal, sensitive data such as medical information as well as financial records and personally identifiable information. An app data breach could have a severe impact on you. In this guide, we look at how to make app data breach claims.

First, our guide looks at the circumstances in which you could make a data breach claim. Then, we look at how compensation may be calculated and awarded. Following this, you can find further information on what an app data breach is and how to find out if you have been impacted by one. We then look at how long you have to file a data protection breach claim and how to do so.. At the end of our guide we highlight the benefits of No Win No Fee agreements.

For guidance on your app data breach claim, please contact our team.

• Call us today on 020 8050 6279 to discuss your case.
• Use our live chat to contact a team member.
• Complete our contact form.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who Can Make App Data Breach Claims?
• How Much App Data Breach Compensation Can I Get?
• What Is An App Data Breach?
• Can I Find Out If My Information Was Involved In An App Data Breach?
• Is There A Time Limit To Make Data Breach Claims?
• What Evidence Will I Need To Claim Compensation?
• How Data Breach Claims Can Help
• Learn More

Who Can Make App Data Breach Claims?

App data breach claims could be made where an app or the organisation responsible for it failed to meet their obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) or the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), leading to your personal data being exposed.

To claim data breach compensation, you must show that:

• The breach was caused by wrongful conduct.
• Your personal data was involved in or affected by the breach
• The breach caused you financial loss, psychological harm or both.

There are two parties who may be responsible for the protection of your personal data. These are the data controller and data processor.

• Data controllers – decide how and why your personal data is processed. They ensure any data is processed legally, in accordance with the legislation cited above. A data protection officer working for the company responsible for the app should ensure they comply with this legislation.
• Data processors – act on behalf of a data controller, processing data following instructions from the data controller.

Such parties must have adequate and up to date security measures in place. The data controller and processor may be different parties, or may be the same party in some cases. The failure to comply with the UK GDPR or DPA may be considered wrongful conduct.

Contact our team for an assessment of your case and find out if you could claim data breach compensation.

How Much App Data Breach Compensation Can I Get?

A successful claimant could be awarded between £66,920 and £141,240 if they suffered severe psychological damage due to a data breach. How much app data breach compensation you could get may depend on two main factors. These are the degree of psychological harm you suffered and any financial impact the breach had on you,

App data breach claims are individually assessed on their own merits. This means that how much you could get will be unique to your case. The example figure above has been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is a set of guidelines which solicitors may use when estimating compensation for psychological harm such as emotional distress, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We have taken figures from the JCG to create the following table. Please note that the top figure is our own illustration of a total settlement and is not taken from the JCG.

Harm	Severity	Notes	Damage
Psychological damage and/or PTSD & material damage.	Severe.	Material damage (such as medical expenses) and a severe degree of PTSD and/or psychological damage.	Up to £500,000 + with material damage.
Psychological damage.	A - Severe.	The claimant is left with marked problems across multiple areas of their life.	£66,920 to £141,240.
	B - Moderately severe.	Similarly affected to the person above, but with a better prognosis.	£23,270 to £66,920.
	C - Moderate.	The person is able to make a marked recovery.	£7,150 to £23,270.
	D - Less severe.	The award will take account of whether there was any disability and its extent.	£1,880 to £7,150.
Post-traumatic stress disorder - PTSD.	A - Severe.	The permanent impact of an injury stops the person working or working to the degree they did before.	£73,050 to £122,850.
	B - Moderately severe.	This person has a more optimistic outlook for their recovery.	£28,250 to £73,050.
	C - Moderate.	The claimant has made a large degree of recovery with no grossly disabling effects which are lasting.	£9,980 to £28,250.
	D - Less severe.	The person has made or will make a virtually full recovery.	£4,820 to £9,980.

Next, we look at other ways you may be compensated following a personal data breach.

How Is Compensation Determined For Data Breaches?

Compensation for data breaches may be determined by the level of financial harm and psychological damage experienced. Claimants may be able to seek 2 types of damage, with the final settlement being made up of a combination of both.

The first of these is non-material damage. This is the psychiatric or psychological harm suffered by the claimant, as outlined in the table above.

The second is material damage. These are financial losses connected to the breach. Recoverable financial losses may include:

• Medical expenses such as the cost of medication, therapy and psychological treatment.
• Lost income and earnings due to taking time off work in order to deal with the impact of a breach.
• Relocation expenses arising due to safety and security fears caused by the breach. For example, this may be due to having to move home.
• Domestic security costs arising due to safety concerns as highlighted above.

Claimants must provide evidence of these losses. We will discuss how to prove these losses later in this guide. You can get an individual assessment of your data protection breach claim by talking to a member of our team. They could assess your eligibility to claim for material or non material damage and explain further how compensation may be calculated.

What Is An App Data Breach?

An app data breach is a security incident impacting personal data being processed or stored for use by a mobile application. Such data may be stored or processed in a cloud server or other data facility. Organisations have a legal obligation to protect your data. Their failure to do so may constitute grounds for a data breach compensation claim. Incidents may involve the unlawful or accidental destruction, loss, alteration, disclosure or access of personal data.

Under the UK GDPR and DPA 2018, such breaches may be the result of accidental or deliberate causes. This could encompass causes such as human error, hacking, cyber attacks and phishing.

Apps may store a very wide range of different types and categories of users data. Examples of personal data may include:

• Contact details such as your name, address, email address and phone number.
• Your date of birth.

Apps may also store special category data, such as:

• Racial and/or ethnic background information.
• Trade union membership.
• Political opinions.
• Philosophical and/or religious beliefs.
• Data concerning your sex life and/or sexual orientation.

In addition, applications related to healthcare and finance may include banking details, financial records, and medical records. Further, social media applications may also store private messages and profile information. Niche applications, such as fitness trackers may be linked to wearable devices recording biometric readings and location data. Any of these forms of data may be misused if unlawfully accessed.

Data breaches could have severe consequences, leading to users suffering severe emotional distress. If your information has been involved in an app customer data breach, please contact our team to learn more about app data breach claims.

Can I Find Out If My Information Was Involved In An App Data Breach?

The organisation behind an app must notify you of any breach which affects your rights or freedoms. They must inform you of the breach, providing:

• Details of the breach, including the nature of the breach, what information was involved and who was affected.
• Steps the organisation is taking to deal with the breach.
• Contact information for the Data Protection Officer acting as a point of contact for individuals impacted by the breach.

However, the organisation responsible may not always meet this obligation. Even where they do, notification letters could easily be missed. In some instances those affected may only find out if they see the breach reported in the news or if the Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO), the relevant UK regulator, takes action. There are various online tools which you can use to check if your data has been breached. For example, by signing up for free credit monitoring you may discover unexpected or unauthorised activity indicating a breach of your online banking data.

Our team could explain what steps you could take if the UK GDPR is breached by an app.

Is There A Time Limit To Make Data Breach Claims?

There is a time limit within which you must file your data breach compensation claim. In general, you must file your claim within 6 years of your becoming aware of the personal data breach.

However, there may also be circumstances in which the time limit is shorter. As such, we do recommend that you contact an advisor as soon as you can following the discovery of a breach.

Contact us to learn more app data breach claims. An advisor could help to clarify how long you have to file your claim. They may also help to assess your general eligibility to claim compensation.

What Evidence Will I Need To Claim Compensation?

You will need to provide evidence which supports your compensation claim. You will need to show who was liable for the data breach, how the breach occurred and the impact it has had on you. If you intend to claim for any financial losses, you will also need to provide evidence of these losses.

Examples of evidence which could support app data breach claims:

• Proof showing the breach occurred. This may include a copy of the data breach notification letter.
• Records and findings from any investigations by the ICO.
• Proof of financial losses detailed earlier in this guide, such as lost income. Bank account statements, invoices, receipts and payslips may also help you to prove such losses.
• Proof of psychological harm or psychiatric damage. You may submit copies of your medical records, including records of any diagnosis and treatment you have received.
• Copies of any communication with the organisation responsible for the app.
• Copies of any communication with the ICO. For example, the organisation may have failed to report the breach, failed to respond to you, or you may not have been satisfied with their responses.

A data breach solicitor could help you to gather these and other types of evidence. They could help you contact credit reference agencies to find out if your credit score has been impacted. Learn more about the different ways our team could help you by contacting us.

How Data Breach Claims Can Help

At Data Breach Claims, we could help those affected by app data protection breaches. Under the UK’s data protection law, app providers must protect users’ data. If there is a breach, customers may be entitled to compensation. By assessing your case and connecting you to an expert solicitor from our panel, we could help start you on the journey towards claiming compensation.

Services a solicitor from our panel could provide may include:

• Assistance with understanding complex legal terms.
• Organising independent medical assessments.
• Help accessing services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy and other specialists.
• Help gathering evidence, such as medical records.

We are ready to help you pursue your compensation claim.

Contact Our Expert Data Breach Team

Contact us to be connected to one of our panel of No Win No Fee solicitors. They could help you to sue a company for a breach of data protection. Solicitors from our panel could operate under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means you wouldn’t face any upfront or ongoing solicitors fees. If your claim is unsuccessful, you will owe nothing for their work. If it is, the solicitor would deduct a small success fee from your compensation. This success fee is subject to a legal cap, ensuring you receive the majority of your award.

Explore your eligibility to claim compensation by contacting us.

• Phone 020 8050 6279 to talk to an advisor.
• Use our live chat to speak to us.
• Complete our contact form.

Learn More

Here you can learn more about data breach compensation claims and staying safe online whilst using apps.

• Find out more about fax data breach claims in this guide.
• Check if you could claim for an email data breach in this guide.
• Here we provide information on how to report a data breach.

References:

• A data breach may cause post traumatic stress disorder. Read about the condition in this NHS resource.
• The National Cyber Security Council provides guidance on steps families and individuals can take to keep their data, such as financial details, safe.
• The ICO provides help and advice on smartphone security in this guide.

Our team is on hand to provide further information on app data breach claims. Contact us today for help and assistance.