AT&T is facing a class action lawsuit accusing it of negligence and breach of contract over a major data breach that compromised personal information.
Plaintiffs representing more than 70 million current and former AT&T customers filed suit April 3 after a massive data breach exposed their names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, and PINs. woke up. AT&T, which learned of the breach in August 2021 in which hackers auctioned off a database of personally identifying information of 70 million customers on an online hacking forum, denied that the breach occurred and declined to investigate further.
The class action lawsuit claims AT&T failed to investigate the data breach for nearly three years, resulting in negligence and breach of contract.
“AT&T failed to protect the data of its current and former customers,” Douglas McNamara, a partner at Cohen Milstein, said in a press release. “If AT&T has the authority to require customers to hand over information for the company's commercial benefit, AT&T has at least a responsibility to protect that information.”
AT&T is accused of mishandling sensitive customer information by failing to monitor security measures and acting quickly when a breach was discovered.
Related: Here's what AT&T is doing for the more than 70 million customers who were victims of data breaches
According to the complaint, AT&T breached its contracts with customers by claiming its privacy notices protect sensitive personal data and notify users about data breaches. Data on former customers was supposed to be destroyed when it was no longer needed, but 65.4 million records were leaked.
The plaintiffs are represented by Cohen Milsteiners Sell & Toll PLLC, Barnes Law Group, Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, and Dicello Levitt LLP. Former and current AT&T customers interested in joining this lawsuit can fill out this contact form.
Related item: Previous coverage of AT&T
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