40 minutes · free · certificate valid 1 year
Data Breach Response Basics
Learn what counts as a personal data breach under UK GDPR, what to do in the first minutes and hours, how breaches are assessed and when the ICO and affected individuals must be notified, and how organisations learn from incidents to prevent the next one. Finish the final assessment with a score of 75% or higher to earn a certificate, valid for one year.
Done this course before, or already know the material? You can go straight to the final assessment and renew your certificate without re-reading the lessons.
What you'll cover
- 1
What counts as a breach
The UK GDPR definition of a personal data breach, the three types of breach, and how to recognise one in everyday situations.
- 2
First response
What to do in the first minutes: report immediately, contain the damage, preserve evidence, and record what happened.
- 3
Assessing and notifying
How breach risk is assessed, the 72-hour ICO notification clock, when individuals must be told, and the breach register.
- 4
Learning and prevention
Root cause analysis, fixing the causes rather than blaming people, testing your response, and supporting those affected.
- 5
Final assessment
20 questions drawn at random from the full question bank. Score 75% or higher to earn your certificate.
Questions rotate on every attempt, so retaking a section or the final assessment gives you a different set of questions in a different order, not the same fixed quiz.