Uber Faces Class-Action Lawsuit in Alberta Over Data Privacy Breach

International ride-hailing company Uber is facing a potential class-action lawsuit in Alberta over a 2016 data breach that it initially tried to cover up. The company, which admitted last week that personal information belonging to 57 million of its customers had been stolen in 2016, is being sued by a law firm on behalf of Albertans whose personal information was compromised, CBC News reports.

Uber

The class-action lawsuit against Uber has been filed by the same law firm that won a Supreme Court decision granting the right to sue Facebook in a B.C. court. The lawsuit names an Alberta woman who was affected by the data breach as the plaintiff and seeks to have the class action certified to apply to a broader group of people.

In addition to a host of general damages, the lawsuit seeks special damages for costs related to credit counselling, compensation for the plaintiffs’ lost time and income, as well as costs for credit monitoring and other services to protect them against identity theft.

The stolen data included customers’ email addresses and mobile phone numbers as well as driver’s licence numbers of some 600,000 Uber drivers in the United States. The lawsuit alleges Uber had a duty to inform both customers and regulators in Alberta.

“At no time did Uber notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the plaintiff, class members or other affected individuals,” reads the statement of claim. “Had it not been for recent media exposure of the Uber hack, class members would to this day remain unaware that their personal information had been compromised.”

Uber is yet to file a statement of defence against the lawsuit.

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