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Costco and The Bay cardholders entitled to claim against Capital One, B.C. judge rules

Personal information of Capital One credit card applicants between 2005 and early 2019 was breached.
Capital One stock
Capital One bank is subject to an $800-million class-action claim for a privacy breach.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has certified an $800-million class-action claim against Capital One, the bank that issues credit cards for Costco Wholesale and the Hudson’s Bay Company to Canadians.

The claim was initiated by B.C. resident Duncan Campbell, who is represented by Charney Lawyers P.C., following a data breach in July 2019.

The data stolen from Canadians, according to the court ruling, included information submitted on credit card applications between 2005 and early 2019, such as name, date of birth, mother's maiden name, address, email address, phone number, employer name, housing situation, annual income, status of mortgage, and banking information.

The data breach affected six million Canadian customers and about 100 million American customers.

While there is no evidence the data was disseminated beyond the original hacker, Justice Nitya Iyer ruled the claim may focus on “negligence, breach of contract, breach of statutory privacy torts, and breach of consumer protection legislation.”

A judge will need to assess if Capital One was negligent and if it also violated B.C.'s Privacy Act and Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act.

If such violations are proven in court, applicants may be entitled to a share of $800 million in damages.

In August 2020, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of Currency found Capital One non-compliant with its risk assessment standards and imposed civil penalties totalling US$80 million, noted Iyer.

Capital One has already agreed to pay $190 million to settle a class-action suit in the U.S., the Seattle Times reported last December.

To register for this class action, email kiaras@charneylawyers.com.