T-Mobile has agreed to a $500 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by customers after the company disclosed in August that sensitive data had been compromised in a cyberattack.
In a court filed late Friday, the mobile phone giant said it would pay $350 million to settle its customers’ claims and spend $150 million over the next few years to strengthen its cybersecurity protections and technologies.
According to the company, the breach affected 76.6 million people in the United States. It has uncovered highly sensitive data, including customers’ first and last names, social security numbers, and driver’s license details.
It was not clear how much individual T-Mobile customers would receive from the settlement, although the proposed agreement, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri, states that individual payments cannot exceed $2,500.
At the time of the breach, T-Mobile said the compromised files contained current accounts, as well as the details of people who had applied for credit from the company.
In Friday’s filing, attorneys for T-Mobile said the settlement agreement did not mean the company acknowledged any wrongdoing. The breach was one of many that occurred in the technology, banking and retail sectors in recent years.
The company said in a statement, “As we continue to invest time, energy and resources to meet this challenge, we are pleased to have resolved this class-action consumer appeal.”
