Washington state AG files lawsuit against T-Mobile over massive data breach

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit on Monday against T-Mobile (TMUS) for failing to adequately secure sensitive personal information of more than 2 million Washingtonians. That failure resulted in a massive data breach that exposed the personal information of those consumers and made them vulnerable to fraud and identity theft, Ferguson said. The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, asserts that T-Mobile knew for years about certain cybersecurity vulnerabilities and did not do enough to address them. At the same time, T-Mobile misrepresented to consumers that the company prioritizes protecting the personal data it collects. Ferguson’s lawsuit also alleges T-Mobile failed to properly notify affected Washingtonians of the data breach, downplaying its severity and sending notices to affected consumers that did not disclose all the information that had been compromised. “This significant data breach was entirely avoidable,” Ferguson said. “T-Mobile had years to fix key vulnerabilities in its cybersecurity systems – and it failed.” Ferguson’s lawsuit seeks civil penalties and restitution for the Washingtonians harmed. It also seeks injunctive relief to require improvements to T-Mobile’s cybersecurity policies and procedures, as well as increased transparency in communications about cybersecurity to its customers.