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August 25, 2015

Ashley Madison lawsuits begin, John Doe sues for emotional distress

Encryption of data could have saved the embarrassment, lawsuit says.

By CBR Staff Writer

Avid Life Media, owner of infidelity website Ashley Madison, is being sued by a user in the US who has claimed to have suffered emotional distress after the website was hacked and personal information was leaked.

The lawsuit, filed by John Doe, claims that the company has failed to protect its clients’ personal and financial information.

The data breach could have been prevented if the company encrypted the data, the lawsuit states.

In July, hackers who called themselves ‘Impact Team’, stole names, email and street addresses of 37 million Ashley Madison customers.

The hackers dumped the stolen data online after its warning to close the website was ignored by Avid Life Media. The hacked data included email addresses of UK civil servants, high-level executives, and US government officials.

Doe has filed the lawsuit with the US District Court in Los Angeles and is seeking class-action status, reported Reuters.

Avid Life Media is reportedly offering a £240,000 reward for information on the hackers.

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