Volume V

Issue : 9: May 3, 2007

• Ticketmaster Sues eBay over Online Resale of Tickets
• Internet Libel Suit Targets Googles Blogspot and Wikipedia
• Chinese Political Prisoner Sues Yahoo in U.S. Court
• Australias Federal Government to Criminalize Identity Theft
• U.S. Supreme Court Revisits Obviousness Test for Patents
• Major Retailer Sued by Banks in Data Theft Class Action
• U.S. Supreme Court Reins in Reach of U.S. Patents Abroad

Home > Volume V > Issue 9: May 3, 2007 > Major Retailer Sued by Banks in Data Theft Class Action

Major Retailer Sued by Banks in Data Theft Class Action

Earlier this year, TJX Companies (an operator of a chain of discount retail stores in the United States) announced that a data breach, initially announced in January 2007, was much larger than originally thought. Apparently, data harvesting software had been installed on the company’s system in mid-2005 and had not been discovered until early 2007, compromising approximately 45,000,000 individuals’ personal information.

In April 2007, the Massachusetts Bankers Association, the Connecticut Bankers Association, the Maine Association of Community Banks, as well as several individual banks initiated class action proceedings against TJX for this security breach. This is unsurprising, as it is banks that issue credit cards that bear the lion’s share of losses from such security breaches, both from unauthorized charges to stolen credit card numbers and the costs of reissuing cards.

For additional information, visit:

http://hartfordbusiness.com/news1384.html