Law firms canvass interest in class action lawsuit against Optus after data breach

Law firms are circling to form a class action suit against Optus in the wake of a large-scale data breach.

Almost 10 million customers’ personal information was compromised last month before the so-called hacker withdrew a threat to hold the data to ransom.

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Now, two prominent law firms are among those garnering interest to form a class action.

Slater and Gordon first canvassed the idea of ​​a class action lawsuit.

Optus has indicated it will defend itself against a class action lawsuit – before one is even launched. Credit: Mark Baker/AP

Senior associate Ben Zocco acknowledged the circumstances behind the breach were still largely unknown.

But he said the consequences could potentially be significant for some customers, and the firm was assessing possible legal options.

“This is potentially the most serious privacy breach in Australian history, both in terms of the number of affected people and the nature of the information disclosed,” Zocco said.

“We consider that the consequences could be particularly serious for vulnerable members of society, such as domestic violence survivors, victims of stalking and other threatening behavior, and people who are seeking or have previously sought asylum in Australia.

“Given the type of information that has been reportedly disclosed, these people can’t simply heed Optus’ advice to be on the look-out for scam emails and text messages.

“Very real risks are created by the disclosure of their personally identifiable information, such as addresses and phone numbers.”

Maurice Blackburn also says it is investigating potential legal action.

“If you are a current or former Optus customer, you are eligible to register to receive updates about the class action investigation into any potential action and compensation which may be sought on your behalf,” a call-to-arms on its website says.

“Registration is free. You do not need to pay anything to register for, or participate in, the potential class action.”

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Optus is under fire for sending confusing messages

Optus is under fire for sending confusing messages

With a class action likely looming, Optus’ parent company Singtel told the Singaporean stock exchange on Monday it would “vigorously defend” any lawsuit.

But Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said pre-emptively engaging lawyers was a bad look for the company.

“This is an unfortunate turn of events, they are making a bad situation worse,” he said.

“The Australian people want to see Optus deal with the crisis instead of engaging and briefing lawyers.”

Among the personal information leaked in the data breach were passport and driver’s license numbers.

Jones said the government expected the telco to foot the bill to replace those documents for anyone caught up in the breach.

“We’re not talking about lawyering up, we’re not talking about any of those liabilities, we’re talking about it quite sensibly,” he said.

But it’s possible a class action lawsuit could go further.

A screenshot of the message the so-called hacker posted to a data breach forum. Credit: Supplied

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If a class action is successful, victims could be awarded damages for the time and cost of replacing identification documents, as well as damages to the telco.

CHOICE consumer data advocate Kate Bower earlier told 7NEWS.com.au customers deserved compensation – but the law didn’t mandate it.

“There are two things to consider here, one (of) which is what does the law say on this issue? And the law says that they don’t have to offer compensation,” she said.

“But I think the other point is, what does the customer expect?”

She described the data accessed in the breach as a “goldmine for identity theft”.

“We know that a large number of people have been affected and that this is a serious breach in the type of information that’s been breached, it’s not just something that’s easily changeable like your username or your password,” she said.

“These are things like your passport or your driver’s license number or your date of birth, things that are key identification factors and are just a goldmine for identity theft.

“But these are things that either you can’t change, like your date of birth, or to change them you need to pay a cost.

“So, I think it’s completely fair that customers expect some sort of remedy from Optus and I think compensation, in this case, would be fair. And I think we need to think about penalties as well.”

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