Staff and Consumers’ Social Security, Passport Numbers Possibly Exposed in Carnival Data Breach

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Carnival staff and guests have possibly had their Social Security and passport numbers, dates of birth, addresses, and health information exposed in a March data breach.

Carnival sent a letter to customers saying that those on its Carnival Cruise, Holland America, and Princess Cruise lines could be affected, although it has not released an exact number of people affected, Law360 reports.

On March 19, the company first detected an intrusion into its IT systems and found that “unauthorized third-party access to certain personal information relating to some guests, employees and crew and medical operations” on the three cruise lines had occurred, the company said in a press statement.

Carnival has notified the staff and guests that were impacted and has set up a call center to answer their questions, according to Law360. In the letter to customers, the company said that it had ”evidence indicating a low likelihood of the data being misused.” It also said it had notified the appropriate regulators.

The breach comes after Carnival experienced two ransomware attacks in August and December of 2020. The company did not say if the breach was related to those two attacks.

In August, the attack accessed and encrypted a portion of the company’s network, and downloaded data files containing the personal data of both customers and employees, Law360 reports.

The company said that it had implemented a “series of containment and remediation measures” to address the issue and back up the IT systems’ security following the first attack. Carnival did not say whether it paid the attackers a ransom, Law360 reports.

Cyberattacks have dominated the headlines over the past few months, with industry giants that have faced attacks, such as Colonial Pipeline Co. and JBS, having paid millions of dollars in ransoms using cryptocurrency.

Healthcare companies are also frequent targets of cyberattacks. Recently, Walmart and CaptureRx were hit with a class action lawsuit for allegedly recklessly violating the privacy rights of Missouri customers through a recent data breach that exposed personal information including prescriptions.

Have you ever had any of your data exposed after a data breach? Let us know in the comments section!

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Consumers Targeted in Caribbean Cruise Robocall Scam to Get Final Payments in $76M Settlement
• Carnival Argues Against Jury in Princess Cruise COVID-19 Class Action
• Royal Caribbean Can’t Dodge Hurricane Harvey Class Action Lawsuit
• DoubleTree Hotel Franchise Owner Settles Worker OT Claims for $1.4M