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    Zappos, Amazon sued over customer data breach

    By KEN RITTER | Associated Press – Wed, Jan 18, 2012

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — Online retailers Amazon.com and Zappos.com are being sued in Kentucky by a Texas woman alleging that she and millions of other customers were harmed by the release of personal account information.

    Officials representing Zappos in Nevada and parent company Amazon in Seattle declined comment Wednesday on the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville.

    The lawsuit was filed Monday after Zappos chief executive Tony Hsieh alerted employees and customers by email Sunday that names, phone numbers and email addresses of the shoe retailer's customers may have been accessed in a hacker attack. The company said customers' credit card and payment information weren't stolen.

    Zappos urged customers to reset passwords to accounts and any other websites where they use similar passwords.

    Zappos said the hacker gained access to its internal network and systems through one of the company's servers in Kentucky. Zappos is based in Henderson, near Las Vegas, and owned by Amazon.com Inc.

    Attorneys for plaintiff Theresa D. Stevens of Beaumont, Texas, are seeking class-action status on behalf of 24 million customers for what the lawsuit alleges was a violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

    "There's no question there's been a breach here. Passwords had to be changed," said Ben Barnow, a Chicago-based plaintiff's lawyer working with Mark Gray of Louisville in the case.

    Barnow said he feared the pilfered personal data could be sold by the hacker.

    "I think it's clear this type of information is for sale," he said. "The risk is hanging out there."

    The civil negligence lawsuit seeks unspecified millions of dollars in compensatory and exemplary damages for emotional distress and loss of privacy, along with a court order for the company to pay for customer credit monitoring and identity theft insurance and periodic audits to ensure customer data is secure.

    Zappos representative Diane Coffey in Boston and Amazon spokeswoman Mary Osako in Seattle said both companies have policies against commenting on litigation.

    The Las Vegas Sun reported Wednesday on the case, which has been referred to a magistrate in Louisville. Court records show that company lawyers haven't answered the lawsuit, and no hearing dates were immediately set.

    ____

    Associated Press writer Brett Barrouquere in Louisville, Ky., contributed to this report.

     

    13 comments

    • Dervick
      Dervick  •  4 mths ago
      If you are afraid of the Internet, stay off of it. Things like this happen all the time...
    • cuz
      cuz  •  Culpeper, Virginia  •  4 mths ago
      I am also a customer who was affected, but strangely enough, my thoughts didn't turn to suing them. Absolutely ridiculous....you hope you are safe buying online, but know it isn't full-proof. Greedy people and even greedier lawyers are the downfall of this country! Sickening greed!
      • Franky
        Franky 4 mths ago
        People buy online because they're assured it's safe to buy online. Why should a hacker cause the customer to have to change passwords and monitor their credit for the 'rest of my life' as I was told by yet another company who possibly - and like Zappos could not tell me for sure - lost my information? I have over a dozen passwords. And I now have to change all of them??!?!
      • Mike like sports
        Mike like sports 4 mths ago
        Whhhhaaaa!!!! Get real Franky....Sorry that the perfect world you lived in up to this point came crashing down around you.
      • peace23582
        peace23582 3 mths ago
        Franky, Zappos said to change the password to log into your Zappo's account, so explain to me why you have to have to change ALL your passwords????
    • Scotto2316
      Scotto2316  •  Spokane, Washington  •  4 mths ago
      You really can't be serious. She had to change her passwords and that, what, caused 'emotional distress' ? If thats the case she wasn't terribly emotionally stable to begin with. And from what I understand it was data like email and addresses, public info anyway. Just another greedy pig trying to get money for nothing driven by a bottom feeder atty.
    • rungo
      rungo  •  Albuquerque, New Mexico  •  4 mths ago
      I am one of those millions and dont feel like I have been harmed or emotionally distreesd looks like another pointles lawsuit to clog up the court system to me.
    • CAROCZEL
      CAROCZEL  •  4 mths ago
      what? too much stress to change a password?.... :|
      • George
        George 4 mths ago
        Aaaaaaahhhhhhh I'm going slightly maaaaaaddddd ;)
    • doodlebug
      doodlebug  •  4 mths ago
      They didn't 'release' info, they got hacked! Stupid #*%$* lawsuits, so sick of hearing about them!
    • nogoodn
      nogoodn  •  Phoenix, Arizona  •  4 mths ago
      so if they get money do i get some?
    • kwittenberg03
      kwittenberg03  •  Fair Oaks, California  •  4 mths ago
      People sue for anything these days it is so pathetic.
    • Jacy Jax
      Jacy Jax  •  Jacksonville, Florida  •  4 mths ago
      Any time you use a credit card, you risk "privacy." Look at the scams done at restaurants by servers and bartenders when they are out of your sight. Even ATM's have had scanners attached that copy bank information and do allow the hacker to take money directly from the bank account. In a technological society "hacking" is a risk we all take for the convenience of 1) using credit cards instead of cash; 2) and shopping online from the comfort of our own home. We also live in a very litigious society where people want to sue for any "inconvenience" or PERCEIVED wrong. Whatever happened to personal responsibility for the risks you CHOOSE to take?
    • _
      _  •  4 mths ago
      As one of the customers, my main concern is, if I do change my password, how do I know that there's not some bug in there that's just waiting for my new password so they can send it out? If they managed to hack in, there's a high chance they left something behind.

      Sidenote, I'm pretty sure they sold my info to China, I've been getting some of those "you have money waiting in China call me" emails.

      With all of that said and done, I do not have enough money, time, or reason to sue these guys. I appreciate that they emailed me asap to alert me, and have been upfront about it. She is not representing all of us, and it's embarrassing for her to assume this is what the other 23,999,999 people want.
    • just a decent person
      just a decent person  •  4 mths ago
      Hope the same thing doesn't happen to Grouchos.
      • Damon
        Damon 3 mths ago
        Or harpo's.
    • AlbertoG
      AlbertoG  •  4 mths ago
      I too am one of those millions and unlike you I feel that i have been harmed. The hacker(s) no have my personal information that was supposedly securely stored by Zappos, who obviously cut corners in their security program. Now they have to pay the piper.
      • Kelly
        Kelly 4 mths ago
        You obviously have little to no understanding of computer programming or you would not say that they "obviously" cut corners. Basically what you are saying is that if someone steals your wallet you will sue yourself because you obviously cut corners in your personal security by not gluing your pocket shut? Besides, it isn't about whether you "feel" harmed - and if you really feel that way, get rid of ALL your electronic means of payment - credit cards, debit cards, checks, bank accounts etc...Paranoid and finger pointing people like yourself need to invest in a big mattress to hide your paper $$ in - Hope nobody breaks in and steals it so the company that installed the window they broke in through doesn't get sued next!
      • Scotto2316
        Scotto2316 4 mths ago
        All the data 'stolen' is mostly public anyway. If your so concerned you best take yourself off the grid. Theres enough I could find about you simply from you yahoo info, probably more than the hacker got. Take a valium and relax a little.
      • Mike like sports
        Mike like sports 4 mths ago
        I think I love you, Kelly....lol
    • ▐▀▀▼▀▀▌ ►kevin k◄ ▐▄▄▲▄▄▌ ...
      ▐▀▀▼▀▀▌ ►kevin k◄ ▐▄▄▲▄▄▌ ...  •  Sao Paulo, Brazil  •  4 mths ago
      they noticed it and said it was a foriegn attack, why sue when you should try and motivate ur companies to do better?
     Post a comment
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