Data Breach Legal News Articles & Interviews

Los Angeles, CA: With so many data breaches occurring in the last several years, and given the vulnerability of heretofore impenetrable platforms such as hospitals and even the federal government, experts advocate that given the increasing sophistication of hackers it’s only a matter of time before the next one. That leaves most Americans waiting for the other shoe, and the next data breach lawsuit, to drop.

San Diego, CA: A data breach lawsuit has sprouted up in California, alleging that a phishing scam has resulted in the hacking of wage and tax forms belonging to some 21,000 employees in 13 states.

Columbus, OH: The Wendy's data breach may be much bigger than originally thought, according to reports. Unfortunately, Wendy’s so far isn’t giving a lot of information about how much bigger the breach is or where the stores involved are located. As a result, customers are left wondering if their personal information has been compromised in the data breach.

Washington, DC: A new report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shows that data breach complaints are on the rise. In the report, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book (2/16), the FTC notes that complaints about identity theft increased 47 percent in 2015, likely helped by a number of high-profile data breaches. Consumers have filed lawsuits against companies they allege have failed to adequately protect their personal, confidential information.

Boston, MA: Of all the potential data breaches that could lead to headache, heartbreak, identity theft and a data breach lawsuit, perhaps the most damning and potentially embarrassing breach is the unlawful access of medical records. With more hospitals and health care facilities archiving and making medical records available electronically, the risks for those records falling into the wrong hands increases exponentially with increased availability of data and heightened sophistication on the part of criminals.

Washington, DC: A report from the Federal Trade Commission indicates that complaints about identity theft increased 47 percent in 2015 over 2014. As more organizations become victims of data breaches, more consumers are exposed to a risk of identity theft. Consumers are fighting back, filing lawsuits against the companies and organizations they trust with their personal information, but critics say organizations and regulators are not doing enough to protect consumers.

Washington, DC: Mary Woo is just one of some 21.5 million Americans whom the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) estimate were affected in some way by a massive data breach that hit the OPM, and is considered the largest hack of its kind suffered by the US Government.

Los Angeles, CA: The fallout from a data breach can be massive in scope, as evidenced by the millions of people affected when their personal information is illegally accessed. Some cases involve stolen card numbers and consumers who allege their credit cards were used illegally. But other cases involve identity theft, where consumers don’t find out until later that their information has been used to make big purchases or access large sums of money. The problem, data breach lawsuits allege, is that companies simply don’t take protection of customer information seriously.

Washington, DC: Two large-scale data breach settlements have been announced, one involving Home Depot lawsuits and the other involving claims made by the Federal Trade Commission against Wyndham Hotels. Both involved situations in which hackers illegally obtained the payment information of customers, with plaintiffs alleging serious failures on the part of the defendants. In recent years, lawsuits have been filed against numerous companies alleging those companies failed to adequately protect personal information.

Atlanta, GA: As data breaches prove a continuing threat in an increasingly fluid online world where everyone has a presence, previous data breaches having resulted in lawsuits are duking it out in the nation’s courts. To that end, a sizable putative class of banks currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Home Depot over a massive data breach from 2014 is unhappy with a stance the defendant has taken as the Home Depot data breach lawsuit continues to percolate.