A data breach wreaked havoc on customers of T-Mobile back in 2021, resulting in a class action lawsuit being taken out against the mobile communications company. Now, four years later, the settlement payout has finally begun rolling out to class members who can expect to find a cheque in their mailboxes any day now.
T-Mobile data breach settlement
Technology has become so deeply integrated into our daily lives that you sometimes begin to even wonder how people in days long gone even managed–or have we perhaps become too reliant on these occasionally unreliable machines? Granted, the benefits are great, particularly for companies like mobile network operators who deal with the data of millions upon millions of customers. Cloud-based storage is an obvious solution to rooms full of filing cabinets that would severely reduce efficiency levels.
However, this kind of tech-savvy system does come with its own share of pitfalls. The main one being its vulnerability if the necessary and proper safety precautions are not enforced for whatever reason, and this is precisely what had occurred with T-Mobile in 2021.
The network operator was the victim of a data breach that impacted a whopping 76 million of its customers and as a result, a class action suit was taken out against the company. Fortunately for the impacted customers, no payment information had been accessed by the hackers, however, according to the network operator, the breach resulted in sensitive information such as “names, addresses, social security numbers, driver’s licenses, and ID information accessed by unauthorized people.” The impacted customers were rightfully concerned by this cyber attack, especially when considering the rise in identify theft that has been seen over the last few years.
As is standard procedure for the accused companies in these types of class actions, T-Mobile has denied any sort of wrongdoing in this matter but had agreed to make a settlement payment in order to resolve all allegations. As such, it was agreed that the lawsuit would be settled out of court with the total settlement amounting to $350 million.
It took four years, but the impacted customers will finally be receiving their compensation as confirmed by an update on the official settlement website which has stated that all court proceeding have now been concluded and as such, settlement payments will begin rolling out.
How much can class members expect to receive?
Now that all court proceedings have reached its end, it has been confirmed that cheques will begin going out this month but how much will the class members receive?
According to the terms of the settlement, any individual who has suffered any losses related to this data breach is eligible to receive a maximum amount of $25,000. For those who where impacted but did not suffer any losses due to the data breach, a maximum of $25 can be received and this is even if the customer did not file a claim in the lawsuit. Additionally, customers impacted by this breach who reside in California will be able to receive a maximum of $100.
Individuals who are a part of this settlement will have already received a notice. If you are unsure if the breach impacted you or not, call 1-833-512-2314 for more information.
Whilst these are the maximum possible amounts any class member can receive, if we do the math, the total compensation each individual might receive could be significantly lower. The network operator agreed to pay a total of $350 million in settlement compensation and if this figure is divided up by the 76 million impacted customers, each class member will be left with around $4.50. However, it is more than likely that attorney fees and other legal costs will also be taken from the settlement total. As such, the total could be even smaller.