By Danielle Griffin. Last Updated 27th March 2023. Welcome to our guide to claiming GDPR compensation for a breach of gym data in the UK that has harmed you. Despite the many advances of data protection legislation, we live in an age where the ability to obtain personal data via illicit means can be worryingly easy. You could be able to make a gym data breach claim if you suffer because your personal data was compromised in a breach. Here, we explain how to claim compensation for a data protection breach if one of these personal data breaches has caused your financial or psychological harm.
Who Could Be Held Liable For Personal Data Breaches?
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A guide to making a claim after a gym data breach
Although employees of the organisation may be responsible for a gym data breach, it could ultimately be the gym or the companies they contract to look after the personal data that’s at fault.
In this article, we will discuss the specifics of personal data breaches involving gymnasiums. You can examine whether you believe you have been a victim of a breach of data protection. You can contact us via phone on:
- 0800 073 8801
- Or via our live chat
- Or by contacting us in writing
Select A Section
- What Are Gym Customer Data Breaches?
- Information Which Could Be Involved In A Gym Data Breach
- What Was The Total Fitness Gym Data Breach And Were You Affected?
- Steps Gyms Could Take To Protect Your Data Privacy
- Compensation For Data Protection Breach Claims
- Get In Touch Today To See If We Could Help You
What Are Gym Customer Data Breaches?
To examine whether or not you have been subject to a gym data breach, we will see how your case applies to the most up-to-date legislation. The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) defines a data breach as when some type of security incident means personal information that could identify a person (also known as a data subject) is lost, disclosed, destroyed, accessed or altered in an unlawful or accidental manner.
An organisation could mishandle your personal data unintentionally. In order to successfully prove a data breach claim, you will need to establish that the gym has mismanaged your data or made some form of positive wrongful conduct and, in turn, caused you emotional distress or financial loss.
The UK GDPR covers a vast range of personal data. This includes both digital data and that in physical/paper format.
Your gym may have sent a letter with your bank details to the wrong address, despite having the correct one on file. If a gym employee left their screen unlocked in a reception area where the screen was visible and revealed private and personal data, this could also justify a potential gym data breach claim.
Essentially, if the company holding your personal data hasn’t taken due care whilst handling it, they could be culpable for any distress or financial damage. We will explain these two types of data breach compensation further in the article. We also have an article that details FAQs regarding data breach claims. Please feel free to contact us to take your matter further. You may be entitled to compensation.
Information Which Could Be Involved In A Gym Data Breach
Generally, there are more ‘obvious’ forms of personal information. Specific financial information such as bank account details, debit/credit card information and direct debit details are all pieces of information that could identify you. If someone obtained these details, they could cause harm to you financially.
However, these are not the only types of personal information that can be used to identify an individual. Here are some other examples, though they may not all apply to gyms:
- Name
- Address
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
- Political affiliations
- Medical conditions
- Trade union membership
If you believe you have had any of this personal data accessed unlawfully and it has led to financial loss or psychological damage, please contact us today to discuss it further.
What Was The Total Fitness Gym Data Breach And Were You Affected?
Data breach law is a relatively new area of law. As our world seems to expand online in every conceivable way rapidly, we must store our personal data somewhere, and hackers are happy to take advantage of whatever weaknesses may appear. However, we are fighting back, as detailed by this government publication that shows the UK’s growing role as a cyber power.
How Long Do I Have To Claim After a Gym Data Breach?
Have you been harmed by a breach of gym data in the UK. If so, you might wonder how long you could have to claim for it. If you want to bring a data protection breach claim for the psychological harm or financial harm caused by a breach of your gym data, there are time limits.
Generally, you have 6 years to start your claim. However, this may be reduced to 1 year if you’re claiming against a public body.
If you’re at all concerned about how long you could have to claim, please call the team. We’d be happy to speak to you about how long you could have to claim.
How Common Are Breaches Of Gym Data In The UK?
The Q4 statistics for 2021/22 from the ICO paint a picture of which industries have reported data security incidents. As you can see from the graphic below, As you can see, there were 75 incidents reported in the leisure and transport industry. However, not all data security incidents lead to a claim for a data breach.
To have a valid claim, you’d need to evidence that an organisation’s wrongful conduct caused your personal data to become compromised. Furthermore, it must have led to you suffering psychological harm or financial loss.
If you would like more information, please call our team. They would be happy to talk you through the process in further detail.
Steps Gyms Could Take To Protect Your Data Privacy
We already discussed what legally protected personal data gyms may have. You may wish to know what steps an organisation can take to prevent a gym data breach. In this section, we look at examples of how a breach can occur and what a gym could do to prevent it.
Any staff with personal data access need to be trained in data protection. This is to prevent human error data breaches. Examples of human errors that compromise personal data include:
- Failing to use the blind carbon copy (BCC) feature when sending an email to more than one recipient. Any staff members sending emails should be trained in using this feature.
- Disclosing a subject’s protected data verbally, such as during a phone call. A gym could have policies in place to confirm a subject’s identity, such as passwords, when a member phones.
- A device, such as a laptop or memory card, containing protected personal data could be disposed of incorrectly or left somewhere inappropriate. A gym should have policies in place regarding the disposal of devices containing personal data. In addition, an organisation may also have policies regarding transporting devices containing personal data.
- Paper files containing protected personal data could be accessed unlawfully. Any paperwork should be kept securely. As with electronic devices, there may be policies in place regarding its disposal, such as shredding.
In addition, any personal data that is processed digitally should be protected with the latest cybersecurity measures. This can prevent hackers from gaining unlawful access to protected data.
Should protected personal gym data in the UK be compromised, then the organisation should inform you without undue delay if the breach can affect your rights. They should tell you what personal data was included in the breach. In addition, they should let you know what they are doing to put this right. Any correspondence between yourself and the organisation could help support a data breach claim.
Call our advisors if you would like to discuss the breach in your protected data. They can assess whether you might be eligible for compensation. If it seems like your claim could be valid, you could be put in touch with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
Compensation For Data Protection Breach Claims
If you’re intending to make a claim for a personal data breach, you might be interested to know how data breach compensation is calculated. There are different damages that could make up a payout for a successful gym data breach claim.
Successful claims for personal data breaches could include payouts for financial expenses or losses caused by the breach. These are known as material damage. For example, if someone accessed your bank account details unlawfully and stole money from you, the compensation you receive in a successful compensation claim could reimburse you for the money that was stolen.
Your settlement could also include a payout for the psychological harm caused by the breach. These are known as non-material damage. For example, you can be awarded compensation for the distress or anxiety you suffered due to the personal data breach.
To learn whether you could claim compensation for a data protection breach, please get in touch on the number above.
Data Breach Compensation Calculator
As stated above, you could claim compensation for a data breach involving your personal information if you suffered material or non-material damage.
If your personal data was involved in a data breach, a compensation calculator might be able to provide you with an estimation of how much you could receive in compensation. Alternatively, you could refer to the table we have created below.
We have created the following table to help you gain a clear understanding of how much you could receive in compensation for your non-material damage if your personal data was involved in a UK GDPR breach. The compensation amounts listed have been taken from the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a document that lists compensation brackets for various mental and physical injuries. The figures are based on past successful cases. Additionally, it is used by many legal professionals, such as solicitors, to help them value claims.
However, you should only use this table as a guide. The compensation you could receive may be affected by the factors of your claim, meaning the amount may differ from those listed below.
| Claim | Severity | Notes | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Injury | Severe | Serious issues and inability to cope with day-to-day life and personal relationships, among other issues. The prognosis will also be very poor. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Psychiatric Injury | Moderately Severe | The person will still suffer with various significant issues, however the prognosis will be more optimistic. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Psychiatric Injury | Moderate | The person will have made significant improvements and the prognosis will be good. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Psychiatric Injury | Less Severe | Factors that will impact the level of compensation include how long the symptoms persisted and any issues with sleep. | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| PTSD | Severe | The person will be unable to function as they did pre-trauma due to permanent issues that negatively affect all areas of their life. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| PTSD | Moderately Severe | The person will suffer with significant problems, however, there is room for some recovery with professional help. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| PTSD | Moderate | A large recovery will have been made and any continuing symptoms will not be majorly disabling. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| PTSD | Less Severe | A virtually complete recovery will have been made with 1-2 years. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
Contact our advisors today to discuss your personal data breach claim. Our advisors could also offer you free legal advice regarding your claim and connect you with our solicitors if they believe that you could be eligible for compensation.
Get In Touch Today To See If We Could Help You
Our solicitors can provide professional services on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that if your claim is successful, we will deduct a small fee to cover our costs. Furthermore, if the claim is unsuccessful, we will not charge you. Please see this link for more information about No Win No Fee claims.
If you want to discuss your potential gym data breach claim with us, you can contact us directly on our website. Furthermore, if you would rather speak to us over the phone, please call us on 0800 073 8801.
Related Data Protection Breach Claims
Please see our other guides on claiming data breach compensation:
- What are my rights after a pharmacy data breach?
- How do I claim for an NHS data breach?
- I was a victim of a hotel data breach, how do I claim for this?
- Personal data breaches, a definitive definition by the ICO
- Get help making a post office data breach claim with our guide.
- Learn how to make a text message data breach claim with our helpful article.
- Find out about the claims process after suffering a disciplinary investigation at work data breach with this informative guide.
Guide by AC
Edited by RV