Dallas-based telecommunications giant AT&T is facing 10 lawsuits from separate Texas law firms after 73 million former and current account holders had their personal information exposed in a data breach. We are fighting a class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that the data breach at AT&T caused emotional and financial distress to account holders and was the result of the company's negligence. Some lawsuits allege that the company owes customers refunds for failing to protect user information.
The data breach affected approximately 7.6 million checking account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. As a result, sensitive information such as names, email and mailing addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, dates of birth, AT&T account numbers, and passcodes were lost.
William Federman, an attorney with the Oklahoma City-based law firm Federman & Sherwood, said the company's alleged negligence would have major consequences.
“At the end of the day, AT&T is going to have to face the music,” Federman said. “The actions here were clearly inadequate. This shouldn't happen. They should stand by the consumer and do what's right for the consumer.”
The company, which has offices in Dallas, has filed a class action lawsuit against AT&T seeking financial compensation for customers and changes to the company's security and data practices.
AT&T declined an interview request and further comment. dallas morning news.
The company previously said it had launched an investigation to determine who was affected and how the breach occurred. AT&T says its operations are not affected and some account holders are entitled to free credit monitoring.
“At this time, AT&T has no evidence of unauthorized access to its systems that would result in the exfiltration of data sets,” AT&T said in a statement. “We are actively communicating with those affected and will provide credit monitoring, at our expense, where applicable.”
Houston-based Foster Yarborough PLLC has also filed a class action lawsuit against AT&T, hoping to not only address the company's cybersecurity protocols but also obtain financial compensation for its customers.
“The consequences and ramifications are worse than ever. Our lives are increasingly conducted online, and we are demanding that the companies we pay to protect all our data be protected. It has to be reliable,” said Patrick Yarborough, an attorney for the company. “We want to take responsibility and want to see change.”
news Various other Texas entities that have filed class action lawsuits, including Kendall Law Firm and Steckler Wayne & Love LLP, did not respond to phone calls as of press time. .
For Federman, AT&T's lack of transparency is one of the most concerning fallout from the data breach, he said.
“We shouldn't have a data breach where we lose people's sensitive information,” he said. “At present, AT&T is not disclosing how or why the breach occurred. Their announcement is missing some very important details that people deserve to know.”
In December 2023, the Federal Communications Commission updated its security breach rules for the first time in 16 years. The new rules expand the types of data that must be protected, strengthen the definition of what a breach is, and add requirements for who must be notified after a breach.
The data set from the data breach may date back to 2019 or earlier, making the situation even more concerning for Yarborough and his customers, he said.
“We have reason to believe that this data has been in the wrong hands for years. Discovery will reveal how much AT&T knew or should have known about this matter. Deaf,” he said. “I believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the facts already establish AT&T's liability.”
Federman said he would like to see companies like AT&T held more accountable when data breaches occur.
“They need to take cybersecurity more seriously. They need to spend money, hire qualified personnel, provide the tools they need, and keep up to date with the latest software.” He said. “Their last cybersecurity implementation is now outdated. This is where they failed. AT&T needs to be on top of its game.”
With so many customers affected, the biggest challenge may be consolidating the cases over the next few years, Yarborough said.
“We need to get all the plaintiffs' lawyers together and make sure we're all moving in the same direction,” he said. “A lot of this comes down to whether we organize the party or not. I've seen incidents like this go on for over a decade. So it's up to us to step up and do the right thing. It’s up to AT&T.”
Both lawsuits filed in Texas allege that affected customers are more likely to fall victim to identity fraud and that their personal lives are being harmed. The Oklahoma City company sees the same thing from its customers, Federman said.
“Imagine having your personal information exposed to the highest bidder around the world. Think about how that would affect you,” he said. “The biggest thing is seeing how hard AT&T is trying to fight this. But this is a system that is failing to protect people. It's causing a nightmare. It needs to end.”
