Claim part of $20 million Yahoo class action settlement in Canada

Time is running out for Yahoo and Rogers account holders to claim part of a $20 million settlement in Canada.

The claims are part of a $20 million settlement with Yahoo! Inc. and Yahoo! Canada Co. related to multiple data breaches from 2013 to 2016.

The lawsuit alleges inadequate data security measures were in place to protect account holders’ personal information.

Yahoo and Rogers Communications do not admit any wrongdoing or liability, Charney Lawyers said in a press release. Rogers Communications is involved in the class action because of its partnership with Yahoo in Canada.

The Ontario Superior Court approved the settlement and the claims period has now begun.

Canadians who had a Yahoo or Rogers account from Jan. 1, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2016, may be eligible to receive compensation.

People have until Dec. 27 to claim settlement benefits relating to Yahoo! data breaches that occurred between 2013 and 2016. Eligible class members who file a claim form by Dec. 27, can claim cash reimbursement up to $375, and up to $25,000 in certain cases, according to the Yahoo! Inc. Settlement Administrator.

Alternatively, eligible class members can claim credit monitoring services for up to one year.

If the total amount of valid claims exceeds the available funds, claim amounts may be reduced.

Account holders can submit claims in one of two categories.

Category A claimants are eligible for a cash reimbursement for documented out-of-pocket costs or expenditures incurred within four months of receiving notice of one or more of the three data breaches, the settlement documents state.

Eligible people in this category can claim a maximum of five hours of time spent mitigating the impact of each of the three data breaches (up to a combined total of 15 hours). This time will be paid at $25/hour to a maximum of $375.

Also if the claimant paid Yahoo for advertisement-free or premium email services and/or Yahoo or Aabaco Small Business services between Aug. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2016, they may claim 25 per cent of the cost of those services.

Category B claimants are eligible to claim up to five hours of wasted time and inconvenience responding to each of the data breaches, in the amount of $25 per hour, for a total of $375.

The breaches date back to August 2013 when there was a cyberattack by a still unidentified hacker against Yahoo’s worldwide user database, court documents state.

The hacker accessed information from approximately three billion accounts, including the user account information of about five million Canadians. The information included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and passwords, the court document states.

Yahoo was not aware of the attack until November 2016.

A second hack occurred around November or December 2014 and information from approximately 500 million accounts were stolen, documents state. Yahoo was aware of the 2014 cyberattack shortly after it occurred, but it did not disclose it to the public until September 2016, court documents state.

More information can be found on the website www.yahooclassaction.com.

Eligible account holders can complete the claim form online here.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated from its previous version because the headline implied Rogers was named in the class-action lawsuit, whereas only Yahoo was named. We regret any confusion the former headline might have caused.