Due to the nature of the business, a hotel will process various pieces of personal data. Should this be compromised, you could suffer financial and psychological harm. This guide explains your rights following a hotel data breach.
Key Takeaways
- Laws such as the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) detail how all organisations must process the personal information in their possession.
- Personal data is classified as any information about you that when used, either by itself, or in conjunction with other pieces of information, can be used to identify you as the data subject.
- The Information Commissioners Office (ICO), which is an independent watchdog, enforces these regulations. As part of their data protection role, they can issue huge penalties against any organisation or business that does not comply properly with data protection rules.
- If you suffered harm because of a data breach, you could be entitled to compensation for both the financial damage it caused and any psychological suffering inflicted upon you.
- We work with a panel of expert data breach solicitors who can help you start a compensation claim via a type of No Win No Fee agreement. Working this way means you can access excellent legal representation with no upfront or ongoing solicitor’s fees.
Read on to learn more, or discuss your hotel data breach claim with us right now. We can assess whether you have good grounds to get a claim started and evaluate how much compensation you could be awarded. Any advice we give is completely free. Get in touch today:
- Call on 0208 050 3051.
- Contact Us online.
- Use our live discussion window in the corner of this screen.
Select A Section Of Our Hotel Data Breach Compensation Guide
- Making A Hotel Data Breach Compensation Claim
- What Data Could A Hotel Have?
- How Can A Hotel Data Breach Happen?
- What Are The Impacts Of A Data Breach?
- Hotel Data Breach Compensation
- How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me?
- Learn More About Data Breach Compensation Claims
Making A Hotel Data Breach Compensation Claim
The ICO define a data breach as a security incident involving the loss of confidentiality, accessibility or integrity of the personal data. This applies to both digital and paper data processing. A claim can apply to both deliberate cyber attacks and human error.
You need to meet three criteria in order to have valid grounds to move ahead with a hotel data breach claim. This is set out in Article 82 of the UK GDPR.
- Your processed personal data must have been included in the breach. Processing is any operation performed on data, including collection and storage or erasure.
- The data processor or controller failed to comply with data protection laws, which caused this breach (we’ll explain the roles of data controller and processor shortly).
- As a result of this breach of your personal data, you experienced financial hardship or mental health damage.
Is A Hotel A Data Controller Or A Data Processor?
As we discussed in our key takeaways, all organisations that process personal data have an obligation to comply with data protection laws. The ICO identify two main parties that processor data:
- Controllers – This group defines the purpose and means of data collection and retention.
- Processors – This group works with the data on behalf of the controllers as instructed.
A hotel can be both a controller and a processor. Or they can allocate the processing part of their operations to an external company. Either way, the ICO details how both groups are obligated to prevent data breaches.
Data breach is quite a complex subject so please connect with the team if you wish to discuss what types of incidents could cause a data breach.
What Data Could A Hotel Have?
A hotel can require a surprising and varied amount of personal data. For example:
- Name and address.
- Date of birth.
- Email and contact numbers.
- Passport information.
- Credit and debit card information.
Could A Hotel Store Special Category Data?
Some personal data is subject to an even more stringent level of care when being processed and is called special category data. This reflects the potential it has to cause greater harm if breached, for example:
- Health and medical requirements.
- Sexual orientation.
- Philosophical or political beliefs.
- Nationality and ethnicity.
Hotels may need to retain information like this. For example, if a same-sex couple have booked the honeymoon suite, this could reveal their sexuality or if added physical security is requested due to a political party’s conference. Additionally, a guest may have to request a specific room to meet their medical needs.
The compromise of this special category data could cause harm to the subject involved. For example, in the case of a same-sex couple, their family or employer may not know their sexual orientation. This breach could cause distress, or put the couple’s safety at risk.
How Can A Hotel Data Breach Happen?
There are a variety of ways in which a hotel could fail to meet its data processing obligations to guests (and staff). Some examples:
- Outdated software or poor IT defences in hotel offices can make it easier for external hackers to access company databases.
- Letters are posted with booking confirmations or loyalty rewards account numbers to the wrong address.
- Passwords were not in place on the checking in computer and allowed unauthorised people to access personal information without consent.
- Emails did not utilise the blind carbon copy (BCC) feature, which allowed everyone included in a mass email to view the email addresses of other recipients.
- Bank details put in a normal bin allowed others to access them.
- Staff may verbally disclose personal data about guests.
- Lost or stolen paperwork in the hotel causes a breach.
Speak to us if your personal information was compromised in a hotel data breach. You may have valid grounds to start a compensation claim.
What Are The Impacts Of A Data Breach?
A data breach can have a wide range of negative impacts on the data subjects concerned. We look at the financial damage it can create below, but it’s important to note the psychological harm as well.
A serious data breach can result in anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This is known as non-material damage.
. A solicitor can arrange for you to sit for a psychiatric evaluation if necessary. Speak to our advisors for more information about claiming for damage to your mental health due to a hotel data breach.
The Financial Impacts Of A Data Breach
You can also claim compensation for your material damage (financial harm). To calculate an appropriate amount, you need to put forward evidence of the financial harm caused by the hotel data breach. For example:
- Proof of costs to see counsellors and therapists.
- The associated expense of restoring privacy, changing devices or even needing to relocate home.
A skilled data breach specialist could help you construct a much more solid argument for material damage using this evidence. Call our team of advisors today to further discuss the ways one of the solicitors from our panel could help you claim.
Hotel Data Breach Compensation
Compensation for psychological injury is referred to as non-material damage and those who calculate this amount refer to both medical evidence and publications like the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).
This document gives award guidelines for numerous injuries including psychological harm. Importantly, every claim varies according to individual circumstances, so please use this as a guideline only. Also, the first entry isn’t from the JCG:
Compensation Guidelines
| INJURY | HOW SEVERE? | GUIDELINE COMPENSATION | DEFINITION |
|---|---|---|---|
| More than one serious type of injury and material damage award. | Serious | Up to £500,000 plus. | An award of this size typically reflects serious psychological injury and associated material damage amounts for impacted employment and counselling costs, as well as relocation costs. |
| General Psychological Injury | (a) Severe | £66,920 up to £141,240 | Person suffers notable problems with most aspects of normal life and poor future outlook indicated. |
| (b) Moderate to severe cases | £23,270 up to £66,920 | Significant similar problems to those above but a more favourable prognosis is suggested. | |
| (c) Moderate cases | £7,150 up to £23,270 | Despite initial problems similar to those in brackets above, a distinct improvement is seen by the point of trial. | |
| (d) Lesser severity cases | £1,880 up to £7,150 | Awards in this bracket reflect the duration of injury. | |
| PTSD | (a) Severe cases | £73,050 up to £122,850 | Permanent negative effects that prevent the person from functioning as they did (prior to trauma)on any level. |
| (b) Moderate to severe cases | £28,250 up to £73,050 | Although similar in severity to bracket above, the person improves somewhat after professional counselling. | |
| (c) Moderate cases | £9,980 up to £28,250 | Broadly a recovery and any persisting symptoms being classed as manageable. | |
| (d) Less Severe cases | £4,820 up to £9,980 | Almost a complete recovery within 12 - 24 months and any remaining symptoms are considered minor. |
How Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me?
If your claim meets the criteria we looked at above, a solicitor from our panel could handle it under a version of terms used in some No Win No Fee contracts. Often, they use a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) because it has so many advantages to the person seeking compensation. Under a CFA, you can expect the following:
- Zero initial solicitors fees to begin work on the claim.
- No fees for their services as the claim moves forward.
- Nothing to pay for completed work if the hotel data breach claim fails.
- If the claim wins, the solicitor will take a success fee from the compensation you have been awarded.
- The law caps this percentage, which is called a ‘success fee’.
It takes just a moment to see if you could connect with a data breach solicitor from our panel. Our advisors can assess the strength of your hotel data breach claim in one phone call and take it from there.
Get In Touch Today
Starting your hotel data breach claim couldn’t be simpler:
- Ring our team on 0208 050 3051.
- Contact us online to discuss a starting a claim.
- Ask the chat window a question about hotel data breach claims.
Learn More About Data Breach Compensation Claims
In addition to this guide, you can read more about data breach compensation from other guides on our site:
- Here is more information on how to sue a company for a data breach.
- Here we look at email data breach claims in more detail.
- Also, this guide explores flight information data breaches.
External information:
- Guidance on stress management from the NHS.
- Here is data security information to help from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
- Lastly, read more about recent actions the ICO has taken to protect data practices for the public.
In conclusion, we value your interest in our hotel data breach guide and invite you to connect with advisors for any further assistance.
