Reports indicate at least five lawsuits filed against T-Mobile US and Experian connected to data hack
The recent hack of consumer data at one of T-Mobile US’ vendors has drawn at least five lawsuits, according to reports.
Bloomberg Business said the data breach, which included personal identification information for approximately 15 million people who applied for postpaid services or device financing at T-Mobile US over a more than two-year period, has drawn five class-action lawsuits against both companies and a sixth lawsuit filed against just Experian.
“What makes the most recent breach so ironic is that Experian holds itself out as an expert in the field of data protection, touting its revenue in this area in the amount of $4 billion annually,” Bloomberg Business quotes one the lawsuits as stating.
T-Mobile US appeared to have taken a proactive approach in handling the data breach, which is said to have impacted consumers up to mid-September. The carrier admitted to the hack on Oct. 1, with CEO John Legere stating the carrier was working with Experian “to take protective steps for all of these consumers as quickly as possible.”
“Obviously I am incredibly angry about this data breach and we will institute a thorough review of our relationship with Experian, but right now my top concern and first focus is assisting any and all consumers affected,” Legere said. “I take our customer and prospective customer privacy very seriously. This is no small issue for us. I do want to assure our customers that neither T-Mobile’s systems nor network were part of this intrusion and this did not involve any payment card numbers or bank account information.”
Experian has set up two years of free credit monitoring to those T-Mobile US customers who may have been impacted by the data breach. T-Mobile US also posted a frequently asked questions page on its website with more information.
Reports have since surfaced noting some of the consumer data has already begun to show up for sale online. Irish fraud prevention startup Trustev said it found complete sets of identity information on sale on the “dark Web” for $25 apiece. Trustev says while it is not 100% sure the information is from the T-Mobile US/Experian data breach, it is quite likely.
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