Like clockwork, the first lawsuit resulting from the security breach of the personal data of more than 75 million Sony PlayStation Network customers has been filed.
The suit was filed today on behalf of Kristopher Johns, 36, of Birmingham, Ala., in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Johns accuses Sony of not taking "reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users."
He also believes Sony took too long to notify him and other customers that their personal information had been exposed. Because of that, the complaint alleges, Sony did not allow its customers "to make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions."
The lawsuit is asking for monetary compensation and free credit card monitoring, and is seeking class action status.
Yesterday, Sony warned customers of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity service that their personal information--including customer names, addresses, e-mail addresses, birthdays, PlayStation Network and Qriocity passwords, and user names, as well as online user handles--was obtained illegally by an "unauthorized person" between April 17 and 19. The company says there is "no evidence" that credit card information was compromised, but it can't be sure yet.
In the aftermath of the breach Sony has temporarily turned off PlayStation Network and Qriocity, contracted with an outside security firm to investigate the intrusion on its network, and started to rebuild its system and security.
Johns' complaint echoes the concerns of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. Blumenthal yesterday wrote a letter to Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, saying he was troubled that the company had not notified customers sooner about the breach. He also called for Sony to provide affected customers with financial data security services, including free access to credit reporting services for two years to protect against identity theft.
No comments:
Post a Comment