A huge health insurance company was hacked exposing 11 million medical records, and now it's getting hit with 5 lawsuits
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The suits, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on behalf of Premera customers from Washington, Nevada and Massachusetts, make similar complaints: that Premera was negligent, breached its contract with customers, violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act and failed to disclose the breach in a timely manner.
The complaints demand Premera to provide financial compensation for any incurred customer losses, as well as award additional damages and restitution.
The hack affects data that could date as far back as 2002 and includes "names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, bank-account information and claim information, including clinical information," the Seattle Times reports.
Premera's breach was discovered last January and was said to have occurred on May 4, 2014. The company was questioned about the lag time between when it learned of the breach and when it informed the public. The company responded saying that it wanted to make sure its infrastructure was once again secure.
Beyond the class action suits, the Premera is being probed on all fronts. Both Congress and individual state insurance officials are now also scrutinizing the company's actions.
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