Will there be a Virgin Media data breach GDPR fine?

With the huge cybersecurity event dominating the news in recent weeks, you may be wondering whether there will be a Virgin Media data breach GDPR fine on the horizon.

We know that the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO) – the UK’s data regulator that’s responsible for issuing monetary penalties – is aware of the breach. They will no doubt carry out an investigation with the view to issuing a punishment if they feel it’s appropriate to do so.

So, when will we know, how much could the fine be, and does this have any impact on the Virgin Media Data Breach Group Action for compensation?

When will we know?

We can’t know for sure when, or if, a Virgin Media data breach GDPR fine will be issued. We can look at previous notices to fine to have an idea, though.

The British Airways data breach event – which has a Group Action in the High Court with our firm on the Steering Committee – was discovered in September 2018. The ICO issued a notice of intention to fine the airline £183m in the summer of 2019. The Marriott intention to fine was issued shortly thereafter in the sum of £99m, with their first breach discovered around the same time as the BA one. We say first as you may have noticed that they’ve suffered yet another breach that was discovered this week and may affect 5 million people.

We know that the ICO is very busy and they need to prioritise their work. But, based on the above, it could take around a year or so before we see the first notice of an intention to fine Virgin Media. Thereafter, Virgin Media could dispute an intention to fine as well.

How much could the GDPR fine be?

The Virgin Media data breach GDPR fine could total up to 4% of the company’s global annual turnover. As such, we assume that it could easily be in the millions of pounds mark as we saw in both the BA and Marriott cases.

We’ll need to wait and see what the final fine may be as the ICO may need to consider a number of key factors. These may include how severe they deem the breach and the impact for the victims, as well as the scale and preventability of the incident itself.

As we’re leading a significant case for justice by way of compensation claims, we will likely be working with the ICO and liaising with them as part of our own investigations and development for our cases.

Virgin Media data breach compensation action

The compensation action that we’re running is completely separate to any Virgin Media data breach GDPR fine that could be issued by the ICO. Money from fines isn’t designed to be used for compensation, and we don’t need to wait until the ICO has issued a fine before we take action.

When it comes to the legal case, we will try and settle compensation claims without the need for court proceedings if this is achievable. In any action, parties should always do what they can to avoid the need to use valuable court time, which is the approach we always take when it comes to claims and group actions. Rushing in to issue cases with a court prematurely will often only ever lead to cost consequences for the claimants, which is not a good thing at all!

We have vast experience in this area of law which is why know how best to approach these kinds of case and avoid putting our clients in that kind of position. We’ve seen other firms in previous actions miss court deadline too which can also lead to people missing out on compensation settlements. Instructing the right law firm is absolutely key!

To start your claim for compensation, simply complete the forms on the main part of the website here to sign-up for a No Win, No Fee legal case today.

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