U.S.-based Ashley Madison Users File Lawsuit Over Breach

Out of the 37 million users worldwide, only eight from the United States are suing the dating website, Ashley Madison. Last month, Ashley Madison fell victim to a major data breach after hackers downloaded personal information, which included emails, names, addresses, financial data and message history. All of this information was then posted online for the public to see.

Now, the owners of the site are being sued by registered members. From the U.S., users in California, Georgia, Missouri, Minnesota, Texas, and Tennessee filed a class-action suit sometime last month. They claim that Ashley Madison failed to take reasonable steps to protect the security of its users, including those who paid a special fee to have their information deleted. The class-action lawsuit seek unspecified damages, claim negligence, breach of contract and privacy violations.

According to reports, the hackers infiltrated the site because they wanted it shut down. They believed it was unfair to collect a $19 fee without deleting users’ data. Posting the private information of millions of users, publicly, is causing unexpected harm. There’s been several incidents involving suicide attempts.

A Canadian group called Avid Life is offering a $500,000 (U.S. $378,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of the hackers.

Source: AP