HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF THE JUDGES RESPONSE:

Cyberattack: two credit agencies cannot be prosecuted for breach of security.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of Canadian credit monitoring agencies who argued that they could not be sued in two class actions for the tort of intrusion into the privacy of plaintiffs regarding a leak of their personal data.

The Ontario Court of Appeal rules that Equifax and Trans Union cannot be charged with the tort of invasion of privacy.

Two class action lawsuits filed in Ontario involve violations of Canadian privacy laws following two cyberattacks in 2017 and 2019.

Alina Owsianik and Michael Obodo are attacking Equifax Canada and Trans Union respectively for the trouble such violations of their privacy and the security of their confidential information have caused them.

However, on Friday (November 25, 2022), the Court of Appeal ruled against Ms. Owsianik and Mr. Obodo, finding in favor of Equifax and Trans Union, thus confirming the lower court rulings.

Clearly, the leak of personal data was perpetrated by hackers, and the agency could not have knowingly participated.

The two credit agencies cannot therefore be considered indirect accomplices, even if they apparently failed in their duty to ensure that the plaintiffs’ personal data was secure and properly stored.

The Court of Appeal points out that the plaintiffs’ accusations are merely allegations, and that no facts have been proven in a court of law.

Source : Radio-Canada / Jean-Philippe Nadeau / July 25, 2022