Identify the affected data
Describe what was destroyed or corrupted and whether the data were used for professional purposes. Record the original format, storage location and affected product or software. Avoid assuming that every unavailable file has been permanently destroyed; temporary inaccessibility and corruption may present different facts.
Document restoration and material loss
Backups, recovery tools and supplier restoration can affect the losses actually resulting from the incident. Preserve recovery steps and costs without altering the original evidence unnecessarily. A claim should distinguish data damage from expenses unrelated to that damage.
Keep other legal routes separate
Data leaks and personal-data infringements may raise different rights and remedies. The Directive's data-damage provision is not a replacement for data-protection law. Equally, an excluded professional-data loss should not be treated as proof that contract or another national liability regime provides no remedy.
Records that help the review
Use the following as a practical starting point. Select and preserve records appropriate to the product, incident and applicable procedure.
- Affected data and non-professional use evidence
- Original and corrupted versions where available
- Backup and recovery records
- Restoration costs and incident mechanism
A data breach is not automatically destruction or corruption, and loss of access alone does not establish the full claim.
Primary sources and legal scope
This page explains the EU Directive framework. Check national implementing law, the corrected temporal scope and relevant procedure before applying it to a case.
- Directive (EU) 2024/2853, consolidated text: Articles 6 ↗
- Official Journal corrigendum, 7 May 2026: Article 2(1) ↗
Source register: corrected scope verified 16 October 2026. Article references identify the legal basis. No qualified legal review or national implementation status is claimed.