T-Mobile settles US data breach lawsuit for $500 million

T-Mobile has reached a settlement in America with victims of a major data breach in 2021. The company is allocating $ 350 million for damages claims and another $ 150 million for securing its networks.

The settlement revolves around a major data breach in 2021. In August of that year, T-Mobile announced that data from 48.7 million customers had been stolen by hackers. Not only name and address details were stolen from many customers, but also dates of birth and their social security numbers or driver’s license or ID card information. In the days and weeks that followed, there were more victims. Ultimately, 76.6 million American citizens would have fallen victim to the data breach. These were not only customers, but also people who had obtained information about subscriptions, for example.

T-Mobile has now settled with lawyers about, among other things, compensation. The company has a proposal for this filed with the SEC, the market and equity regulator in the US. The company says it is putting $350 million in a fund to compensate victims. This concerns victims who report themselves for individual or collective compensation claims. There is no agreed minimum or standard amount that victims can claim. That partly depends on how many customers will do that. Lawyers’ fees and other expenses are also paid from that fund.

In addition to the $350 million in damages, T-Mobile is also putting $150 million into the fund to improve its network security. This amount is in addition to the amount that T-Mobile already processes annually in its accounts.

T-Mobile says the settlement does not mean it is to blame for the data breach. “The settlement does not contain an affirmation of liability, wrongdoing or responsibility,” the company writes. Experts question this: there are indications that the data breach could have occurred because the company’s security was poor. Many victims were also said to have been informed too late or not at all.