PNI Photo Developer Faces Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit

The personalized photo software developer PNI Digital Media Inc. faces a potential $5 million class action lawsuit over allegations that their photo services available at CVS Pharmacy, Costco and Rite Aid stores across the United States were subject to a data hack that left hundreds of thousands of customers susceptible to identity theft.

Lead plaintiff Tamara A. Nedlouf of Georgia filed the PNI data breach class action lawsuit after discovering that her personal and financial information had been stolen off her CVSphoto.com account.

Nedlouf claims that because of the PNI data hack, her first and last name, payment card number, expiration date, card verification code, address, phone number, email address, as well as her username and password for logging into the CVS online account were hacked.

According to the PNI photo developer data breach class action lawsuit, the Canadian-based corporation that provides personalized photo services in more than 19,000 U.S. retail stores was subject to a cyberattack between June 2014 and July 2015.

Nedlouf claims she received an email from CVS on Sept. 11, 2015 informing her of the data breach that would impact CVSphoto.com customers. The class action lawsuit states that in the CVS email, the pharmacy assured their customers that the hack only affected CVSphoto.com customers and did not impact financial transactions on CVS.com or in-store.

The PNI class action lawsuit states that when plaintiff Nedlouf provided her personal information to the online photo developer, “she reasonably believed PNI would maintain this personal and financial information in a secure manner.” Nedlouf further alleges that had she known that PNI would not keep her sensitive information safe, she never would have provided that information.

According to the PNI data breach class action lawsuit, the company not only failed to protect customers from cyberattacks, they also failed to recognize that the breach had occurred for months and did not provide timely notice of the hack to their customers.

Nedlouf is accusing PNI of negligence, claiming that they “owed a duty, as articulated in its own policies, to protect its customers’ personal information.” In addition to negligence, she is also suing for unjust enrichment, bailment and violations of Georgia’s data breach statute.

The PNI class action lawsuit claims that Nedlouf, along with potential Class Members, suffered injuries due to the PNI data breach including: costs associated with detection of identity theft, unauthorized use of personal information, fraudulent charges, canceling/reissuing cards, and having to purchase identity theft protection services.

If approved, the PNI photo developer class action lawsuit would be open to all Class Members who are U.S. citizens and had their personal information compromised by the PNI data breach.

Nedlouf is represented by E. Adam Webb and G. Franklin Lemond, Jr. of Webb Klase & Lemond, LLC.

The PNI Photo Developer Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is T.A.N. v. PNI Digital Media Inc., Case No. 1:15-cv-03246, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

UPDATE: On May 25, 2017, PNI Digital Media reached a proposed settlement designed to help customers affected by the recent data breach.

UPDATE 2: The PNI Digital Media photo processing data breach class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.