A proposed class-action suit has been launched against Dell Technologies on behalf of thousands of Canadians whose personal information was compromised in a 2017 data breach.
Proposed class-action says data violation led to years of anxiety, inconvenience due to scam calls
A proposed class-action suit has been launched against Dell Technologies on behalf of thousands of Canadians whose personal information was compromised in a data breach.
According to a claim filed in a Nova Scotia court, the suit’s proposed representative plaintiff is seeking compensation for two years of scam calls and emails he received after a 2017 data breach exposed information about him and more than 7,000 other Dell customers.
In response to Wednesday’s announcement of the suit, filed Oct. 1, Dell issued an emailed statement saying it “places the highest priority on the protection of customer data.”
“The Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s related investigation found that we improved our ‘security safeguards along with (our) complaint handling and breach investigation practices.’ ”
According to the suit, which hasn’t been certified as a class action, its proposed representative plaintiff suffered
through years of inconvenience and anxiety as a consequence of the breach, which occurred at a call centre in India that provided customer support services for Dell.
It says Dell tech support collected and stored information about the plaintiff, including service history, warranty information and model numbers as well as personal information, after he sought assistance with his computer.
It says he began to get harassing calls
from individuals claiming to be Dell employees, starting in January 2018.
After taking steps to get Dell to deal with the problem to his satisfaction, the man filed a complaint in February 2018 with the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
The OPC reported this year that the man had a well-founded complaint. It also uncovered additional detail about how the breach occurred.
In the meantime, according to the statement of claim, the plaintiff “received five to10 scam calls per day, seven days a week, at all hours (from January 2018 to early 2020).
“The calls would wake (him) from sleep, and constantly interrupt his life. (He) was eventually left with no option but to change his work phone number used by countless clients, work contacts and employers.”
After the phone number changed, the suit claims its main plaintiff began to get numerous emails per day requesting that he call a number to resolve a Dell computer issue.
His lawyers are asking the court to recognize him as a representative for other Canadian customers of Dell that were affected by the 2017 breach,
The Wagners law firm in Halifax said in a Wednesday press statement that the suit claims that Dell Canada and its parent company were negligent and didn’t sufficiently protect the privacy of its customers. The suit doesn’t specify how much money the plaintiffs should get, but asks the court to award damages for breach of privacy and negligence and other compensation.
The defendants named in the suit are Dell Technologies Inc., headquartered in Texas, and its Canadian subsidiary in Toronto.