Two law firms in Canada have filed a class action lawsuit against the companies responsible for running Ashley Madison, Avid Dating Life Incorporated and Avid Life Media Incorporated. The companies that run Ashley Madison are based in Toronto, Canada. The Ashley Madison lawsuit that was filed is suing for $578 million.
Hackers were able to obtain information on the 39 million users and has already released names on some of the clients that used the marriage infidelity website. Charney Lawyers and Sutts, Strosberg LLP filed their Ashley Madison lawsuit on Thursday in Ontario, Canada. Ashley Madison users in Canada have been approaching the two law firms in order to find out if they can join the class action lawsuit and how privacy laws in Canada work.
“They are outraged that AshleyMadison.com failed to protect its users’ information. In many cases, the users paid an additional fee for the website to remove all of their user data, only to discover that the information was left intact and exposed. The sensitivity of the information is so extreme and the repercussions of this breach are so extreme, it puts the damages faced by members in a completely different category of class-action suits.”
Eliot Shore is one of the named plaintiffs in the Ashley Madison lawsuit. He affirms that he never used the website to have an affair on his wife. He only signed up for the website after the death of his wife and only because he was lonely and looking for companionship.
Data from the hackers that has been released shows that email addresses were used that lead back to members of the Canadian military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Credit card transactions were also found that have ties to Department of National Defense and Canada’s House of Commons. According to Lisa Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Treasure Board, rules have already been in place that lay out what is considered appropriate and inappropriate computer use. Having information on Canadian users who hold positions in the government can lead to a risk to Canadian security. High-level officials in the United States who have been connected to Ashley Madison are already starting to worry that they will be blackmailed in order to keep their information from being made public.
What do you think will happen with the Ashley Madison lawsuit in Canada? Will the information being leaked by the hackers reveal more high level officials in Canada?
[Image via AshleyMadison.com]
