Lieff Cabraser represents parents in a nationwide class action lawsuit against VTech arising after their children’s private personal information was obtained by hackers in the wake of VTech’s alleged failure to take reasonable precautions to secure the children’s data. The stolen information includes the children’s names, birthdates, images, email addresses, and home addresses. VTech acknowledges that data relating to more than 2.8 million children was stolen in the attack.
Background to the VTech Child Data Breach Case
VTech is a leading manufacturer and distributor of digital learning toys. Their products allow children to browse the Internet and communicate with each other. Parents can also download educational content for their children, including learning games and e-books.The information VTech requires from its users links parents to their children — this means, among other things, that VTech has a child’s physical address linked to his or her picture and name. Plaintiffs allege that, given the highly sensitive nature of the information VTech requires from its customers, keeping this information secure and private is essential to ensure each child’s safety.
Plaintiffs also allege that reasonable parents would never knowingly purchase a product or service that would compromise their child’s safety by exposing the child’s picture, name, date of birth, and address to the world. Indeed, VTech at all times represented that it kept its data secure. Despite these representations, VTech failed to take reasonable security precautions. Its product was vulnerable to what is known as a Structured Query Language (“SQL”) “injection attack,” which security experts explain exploits “the very first type of flaw that should be eliminated from any Web application.”
On November 14, 2015, hackers obtained personal information from more than 2.8 million children in the United States, as well as their parents. VTech confirmed and admitted that an “unauthorized party accessed VTech customer data.” In a statement released a few days later, VTech stated that the database contained profile information including names, email addresses, download history, passwords and mailing addresses. The database also included information on young children, including their names, genders and birthdates.
Relief Sought in the VTech Data Breach Case
Lieff Cabraser represents the parents of two children on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated seeking injunctive relief to compel VTech to implement adequate security, damages to compensate purchasers for the significant personal security costs they must now incur, damages because consumers purchased products that were in reality worth much less than their advertised value, and equitable relief including disgorgement of wrongful profits.
The parents and those like them now face costs, including out-of-pocket expenses, associated with the prevention, detection, and recovery from identity theft. There are also lost opportunity costs associated with effort expended and the loss of productivity from addressing and attempting to mitigate the actual and future consequences of the breach, including but not limited to efforts spent researching how to prevent, detect, contest and recover from identity data misuse.
Finally, these children and their parents face continued risk to their personal identity information, which remains in VTech’s possession and is subject to further breaches so long as VTech fails to undertake appropriate measures to protect the personal data in their possession.
Contact a Digital Privacy and Data Security Lawyer at Lieff Cabraser
If you have purchased a VTech digital learning toy for your children please use the form below to contact a data security attorney at Lieff Cabraser about the safety of your information and your rights. Lieff Cabraser is committed to ensuring that the fundamental right to privacy is respected and endures even as technology evolves and society changes, and we represent individuals in precedent-setting cases impacting tens of millions of Americans against prominent technology, social media, and entertainment corporations for alleged violations of digital privacy rights and the failure to protect critically-sensitive personal data.
We will review your case without charge or obligation. Lieff Cabraser agrees to protect your name and all confidential information you submit against disclosure, publication or unauthorized use to the full extent under the law.
Please note: Completion of this form cannot contractually obligate plaintiffs’ attorneys to represent you. We can only serve as your attorney if you and we both agree, in writing, that we will serve as your counsel.
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