Data Protection & GDPR

Data Protection & GDPR

Overview of compensation under GDPR 

Note: This is not legal advice and should not be acted upon without speaking to a solicitor. 

The Data Protection Commission confirms you are entitled to compensation for any breach of GDPR where they state*:

• Article 82 of the GDPR allows for any person who has suffered material or non-material damage as a result of an infringement of the GDPR, the right to receive compensation from the controller or processor for the damage suffered. 
  
  
• Under Section 117 of the Data Protection Act 2018, if an individual believes his or her rights under the GDPR have been infringed as a result of an organisation’s failure to comply with its obligations under the GDPR, they may bring an action against the organisation. This is known as a ‘data protection action’.

In any data protection action, the court has the power to grant compensation for damage (including material and/or non-material damage) suffered as a result of the infringement of data protection law.

Material damage generally means damage for some form of physical loss or damage that can be demonstrated to and calculated by a court, e.g. if you crashed your car and it cost €1,000 to repair then the material damage is €1,000. 

Material damage is different for every case. In data protection actions (i.e. for breach of GDPR) you would have to show there was some form of physical loss, e.g. a change in credit rating that led to you being refused a loan (or some other tangible effect).

Non-material damage generally refers to non-physical loss or damage that cannot usually be easily calculated by a court, e.g. pain and suffering. In data protection actions (i.e. for breach of GDPR) non-material damage refers to the distress, hassle, upset and annoyance you might have experienced as a result of the breach.

A lot of data protection actions have been taken by numerous people for upset and distress since GDPR was introduced, arguably the most famous in Ireland being against Ticketmaster. 

Around the 27th of June 2018, Ticketmaster sent numerous customers an email stating their personal data may have been compromised due to a data breach. This resulted in numerous data protection actions in Ireland and a multi-million-pound class action lawsuit in the UK. 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ticketmaster-data-breach-victims-make-bid-for-swift-justice-9txccjpqj

Recently, the Sunday Business Post and Sunday Times reported numerous data protection actions against EBS for breach of GDPR with a lot of people suffering upset and distress over EBS incorrectly reporting their mortgages as being in arrears to the Irish Credit Bureau. This meant their credit ratings were negatively affected and a lot of people were refused credit as a result. Each one of those people have a data protection action against EBS. 

https://www.businesspost.ie/legal/mortgage-holders-sue-ebs-over-missed-payment-reports-to-icb-b16f418e

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ebs-being-sued-by-14-mortgage-holders-denied-credit-by-data-breach-nkdtfgmhj

We are happy to inform clients that we work with Mr. William McLoughlin BL, a barrister that specialises in data protection and lectures on GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.  

Mr. McLoughlin represents numerous clients on data protection actions and has worked on some of the biggest data protection actions in Ireland, including Ticketmaster and EBS data breaches on a “no win, no fee” basis (feel free to Google him).

So, if you received a letter from EBS stating they incorrectly reported you to the Irish Credit Bureau and are annoyed or upset over it, or if you were refused credit or a loan as a result, feel free to contact us to discuss further with no obligation on your part. 

Turner Solicitors

* https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/blogs/right-compensation-and-liability#:~:text=Article%2082%20of%20the%20GDPR,processor%20for%20the%20damage%20suffered.