Canadian Equifax Data Breach Class Action Gets Certified

A Canadian judge has certified an Equifax class action lawsuit that was filed in the wake of the massive 2017 Equifax data breach that reportedly affected around 143 million U.S. consumers along with an unspecified number of Canadians.

On Dec. 13, 2019, Judge Glustein of the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario certified the Equifax data breach lawsuit as a class action.

The judge’s order certifies three subclasses that include all persons in Canada:

1. 1. Whose personal information was accessed by unauthorized third parties during the Equifax data breach and who did not purchase identity theft protection or credit monitoring products from Equifax between March 7, 2017 and July 30, 2017;
   2. Who purchased identity theft protection or credit monitoring products from Equifax between March 7, 2017 and July 30, 2017, and whose personal information was not compromised during the Equifax data breach; and
   3. Whose personal information was compromised in the Equifax data breach and who purchased identity theft protection or credit monitoring products from Equifax between March 7, 2017 and July 30, 2017.

Plaintiff Bethany Agnew-Americano initially filed the Canadian Equifax class action lawsuit in Ontario in September 2017. She named Equifax Canada Co. and Equifax Inc. as defendants in the data breach lawsuit. Plaintiff Alina Owsianik is currently serving as the representative plaintiff.

The Equifax class action lawsuit asserts claims for negligence, breach of contract, intrusion upon seclusion, and breach of consumer protection legislation.

As one of the largest credit reporting agencies, Equifax collects sensitive financial information about millions of individuals and businesses. It sells its credit reporting services for a profit, the Equifax class action lawsuit says. Equifax also provides credit monitoring services to detect, prevent and warn of potential fraud or identity theft.

Equifax’s global operations involves the data collection and analysis for more than 820 million consumers and 91 million businesses globally. According to the data breach class action lawsuit, Equifax does not obtain consumers’ permission before collecting and storing their data, and there is no way for consumers to opt out of Equifax’s collection of their personal information.

In September 2017, Equifax disclosed that unauthorized persons had breached its computer systems from May 13, 2017 until July 30, 2017. The credit reporting company informed approximately 20,000 Canadians that their sensitive personal information had been compromised, the court documents state.

The Equifax data breach reportedly involved the unauthorized access to consumers’ Social Security numbers, names, birthdates, addresses, credit card numbers, drivers’ license numbers and other sensitive personal data.

A $380.5 million data breach settlement has already been reached in a United States Equifax class action lawsuit. Under the terms of this Equifax data breach settlement, eligible Class Members may be entitled to free credit monitoring or $125 in cash; up to $20,000 in reimbursement for certain expenses related to the data breach; and free identity restoration services.

The deadline to file a claim for the U.S. Equifax settlement is approaching quickly, so visit the Equifax data breach class action settlement page now to find out if you qualify!

The plaintiffs are represented by Jean-Marc Leclerc and Sabrina Callaway of Sotos LLP.

The Canadian Equifax Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Bethany Agnew-Americano, et al. v. Equifax Canada Co., et al., Case No CV-17-582551-00CP, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Canada.

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