LONDON – Marriott is facing a class action in London, brought by millions of those who stayed in its hotels and later had their data hacked during a major breach. In total, over 300 million records were stolen in the breach that took place between 2014 and 2018 (via Reuters).
Marriott Class Action Lawsuit Launched
The claim for victims from England and Wales is being led by the founder of Martin Bryant, who founded technology and media consultancy Big Revolution. In a statement, Mr. Bryant said:
I hope this case will raise awareness of the value of our personal data, result in fair compensation … and also serve notice to other data owners that they must hold our data responsibly.
The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for loss of control of personal data. It also includes guests who made reservations at hotels under former Starwood brand establishments, including Sheraton and St. Regis, prior to September 10, 2018. In 2019, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) recommended a $99.2 million pound ($133 million) fine for the breach, which involved seven million UK guest records.
Charlotte:
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve stayed at a Marriott in my travels, including the one located at London Heathrow. Would that the class action lawsuit were expanded beyond England and Wales, yours truly would join it simply out of principle. Major corporations can clearly step up their standards for handling customer data to an industry-wide professional grade.
If we had enforceable common standards, then companies that did not, or could not, meet that standard would not be permitted to handle those data, and would either have to contract for them or go out of business. Either way, consumers would be safer, if not better off.