Early in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was causing a lot of Canadians to seek financial assistance, several data breaches affected My Service Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). These breaches compromised thousands of Canadians’ financial and personal information. This contained private information hackers exploited to perpetrate fraud and identity theft, such as Social Security numbers, bank account information, and tax records.
According to the CRA Privacy Breach Class Action Lawsuit, the government did not sufficiently protect its data. We’ll examine the case’s beginnings, the allegations made by individuals impacted, and the larger ramifications of such a serious invasion of privacy. This example emphasizes the value of safeguarding personal data as well as the repercussions of inadequate security measures.
CRA Privacy Breach Class Action
The class action was started to remedy the unauthorised access to financial and personal data from Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and My Service Canada accounts due to security breaches. Todd Sweet, the representative plaintiff, has contributed to the argument that treating class members’ claims collectively in a single case makes sense due to shared concerns.
Rice Harbut Elliott LLP, which replaced Murphy Battista LLP after the latter’s data breach, is Todd Sweet’s attorney. The case is still being handled by this legal team.
The complaint has been permitted by the court to proceed as a class action, which means that everyone whose financial or personal information in their Government of Canada Online Account was unintentionally revealed to a third party on or after March 1, 2020, will be covered by it. This includes whose My Service Canada accounts, CRA accounts, or other accounts accessible with the GCKey have been compromised. The class action is moving forward with the required legal stages, which include obtaining additional evidence, informing prospective class members, and scheduling hearings or settlement conferences.
Who is Receiving the CRA Notice?
All people whose financial or personal information was affected as a result of data breaches that happened starting in March 2020 are receiving this alert. Among them are
- Users of CRA My Account, whose information was either stolen or accessed.
- People whose My Service Canada accounts were compromised.
- Any other GCKey-protected Government of Canada internet accounts that were compromised by the breach.
Unless they choose to opt-out, individuals are automatically regarded as members of the class, while they are free to take independent legal action if they so want.
What to Do If You Receive a Notice
If you receive this notification, it is crucial that you:
- To find out how the class action may affect you, carefully read the notice.
- Think about your options—opting out or staying in the class action.
- Follow any directions given if you have to take action, such as submitting a form by a deadline.
- Reach out to the legal team representing the case if you have any inquiries or require further information regarding your legal rights and the ramifications of the litigation.
Notice of Clarification
Within the framework of a class action lawsuit—like the CRA privacy breach class action—a Notice of Clarification is a document released by the court or the attorneys to make important details of the case clear to all class members. Typically, this notice contains comprehensive details about:
- The lawsuit’s goal: Describe the legal basis for the class action’s filing as well as its motivation.
- Those enrolled in the course: identifying the class members in detail using the standards outlined in the lawsuit.
- Class members’ rights and choices: educating people about their legal rights in the class action, including how to join the lawsuit or withdraw from it if they want to take separate legal action.
- Potential outcomes: Describing the remedies or damages that the plaintiffs are seeking, as well as what class members could anticipate if the lawsuit is successful.
In order to help affected parties make an informed decision about their involvement in the class action, the Notice of Clarification makes sure that they are all fully informed about it and understand how it affects them.