Yahoo Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over 2014 User Data Breach

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Yahoo! Inc. has been hit with another class action lawsuit accusing it of failing to take reasonable measures to protect the private information of its users, resulting in the data being compromised by a security breach that allegedly took place in late 2014.

Plaintiff Monica Dela Cruz filed the Yahoo data breach class action lawsuit last month in California state court. It was recently removed to California federal court.

She claims that the 2014 Yahoo data breach resulted in the unauthorized access and publication of Yahoo users’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, “hashed” passwords, security questions and answers.

On Sept. 22, 2016, Yahoo admitted that more than 500 million users may have been affected by the data breach, according to the Yahoo class action lawsuit.

This announcement was made after the company investigated claims by a hacker who reportedly posted the stolen account information of 200 million Yahoo users accounts on the dark web marketplace.

“The Data Breach involving Yahoo!’s customers’ accounts is reportedly the largest single-site data breach in history,” Dela Cruz argues in the Yahoo data breach class action lawsuit. “Yahoo! failed to implement and maintain adequate and advanced data security and data management systems and policies, particularly in light of the credible security threats and risks that affected its operations and systems.”

Dela Cruz argues that Yahoo owed a duty to its users to ensure their private information was adequately protected, yet the company allegedly failed to implement and maintain adequate information security systems, policies and procedures.

According to the Yahoo class action lawsuit, Yahoo users were harmed and continue to suffer harm as a result of Yahoo’s failure to adequately safeguard their personal data.

Further, Dela Cruz argues that Yahoo should have been aware of the data breach when it first became an issue in late 2014; however, the company failed to investigate the data breach until it was reportedly contacted by a hacker called “Peace” who claimed to be selling data from millions of Yahoo users online.

According to the Yahoo data breach class action lawsuit, Dela Cruz was unaware of the data breach until she began seeing reports made by media outlets on Sept. 22, 2016. She claims that Yahoo has not directly notified potentially affected Yahoo users about the data breach

The Yahoo data breach class action lawsuit asserts claims for negligence and other claims under California law, including a constitutional violation of privacy.

Dela Cruz seeks to represent herself and a Class of current and former Yahoo users who live in California and whose personal information was accessed and publicly released on the internet by an unauthorized third party beginning in late 2014.

The plaintiff seeks Class certification, damages, monetary relief, injunctive relief, pre-and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees and costs, and other relief deemed proper by the court.

Dela Cruz is represented by Bobby Samini, John M. Whelan and Matthew M. Hoesly of Samini Scheinberg PC.

The Yahoo Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Monica Dela Cruz v. Yahoo! Inc., Case No. 8:16-cv-01964, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Southern Division.

UPDATE: On Jan. 28, 2019, a federal judge denied a $50 million Yahoo class action settlement, finding the proposed deal lacked specific information about ways the tech company would improve data security.

UPDATE 2: On April 9, 2019, Yahoo has now agreed to pay $117.5 million to resolve legal claims regarding three large data breaches that affected the internet company.

UPDATE 3: On July 20, 2019, a federal judge has preliminarily signed off on a $117 million class action settlement agreement between Yahoo and accountholders who were affected by numerous data breaches.

UPDATE 4: September 2019, the Yahoo data breach class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.