AMERICANS have just two weeks to claim free money from massive data breach settlement.
U-Haul has agreed to settle a $5 million class action lawsuit after consumers’ personal data was compromised.
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The settlement benefits California residents whose information was compromised in a data breach that occurred in September 2022 or December 2023.
The moving company failed to protect consumer information against the two data breaches in 2022 and 2023.
These cyberattacks reportedly compromised consumer names and driver’s license numbers.
The suit alleged that an unauthorized third party accessed U-Haul files that included sensitive personal information.
The rental company denied any wrongdoing but agreed to a settlement of $5,085,000.
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Eligible U-Haul customers can receive a payment of about $100.
However, this may increase or decrease depending on the amount remaining in the settlement fund after distributing money for class representation service awards, attorney fees, and administrative expenses.
To qualify for the direct payment, Americans must have resided in California between November 5, 2021 and April 5, 2022, or around December 5, 2023 – when the data breaches occurred.
Eligible participants must also have received a Recent Security Incident Notification letter informing them of the alleged data breaches.
Eligible members of the deal only have a few months to claim the free money.
Affected individuals have until October 15th to submit your claim.
A final payment approval hearing has been scheduled for October 23.
Those who wish to exclude themselves from the agreement or object to any part of it have until September 16 to do so.
It is unclear when payments will reach applicants’ bank accounts.
What is a class action settlement?
Class action lawsuits offer groups of people, or “classes,” a way to come together in court.
These lawsuits are often filed by one or a few people who allege that a company or other entity has harmed a large group of people.
When a lawsuit becomes a class action, it extends to all “class members,” or people who may have similar claims to those who filed the lawsuit.
Companies often settle class actions – offering payment to class members who typically waive their right to pursue legal action by accepting money.
These payment agreements often include statements from the defendant denying wrongdoing. Companies tend to settle class actions to avoid the costs of further litigation.
Pollution, discrimination or false advertising are some examples of what can lead to a class action lawsuit at a company’s door.
Authorities advised all individuals taking part in the agreement to “be patient.”
According to the Harvard Business ReviewData breaches increased last year when many companies started using cloud setup.
More than 60% of corporate data around the world it is estimated to be stored in the cloud.
By 2023, more than 80% of data breaches involved data stored in the cloud.
Companies unintentionally misuse the cloud by allowing “overly permissive cloud access, having unrestricted ports, and using unsecured backups.”
Meanwhile, a nutrition and energy bar company is distributing payments from a $12 million settlement.
And Americans are running out of time to claim hundreds of dollars from a class-action settlement involving a moving company.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
