Class counsel for 100,000 University of Hawaii data breach victims said that they are engaged in serious settlement discussions with UH to provide credit monitoring and fraud restoration services to the 100,000 victims of four data breaches taking place in 2009 and 2010. "We are hopeful that we can complete settlement talks to offer all of the UH victims appropriate credit monitoring and fraud restoration protection," said Thomas Grande, one of the attorneys for the class.
"The July 1, 2011 discovery that 2,000 records containing personal information at Kapiolani Community College were lost or stolen again underscores the importance of providing credit monitoring and fraud restoration as a way of protecting data breach victims,"Grande noted. "Identity theft experts emphasize the need for immediate action to prevent the potential of personal information being misused. The sooner that a breach victim can enroll in a credit monitoring or credit protection program, the better protection that person can receive. Although there is still potential for identity theft several years after a data breach, affirmative steps to monitor credit reports and financial accounts should be taken as soon as possible," Grande said.
"It is a very positive sign that Kapiolani Community College is considering offering credit monitoring in this most recent data breach," said Bruce Sherman, who also represents the class. "We are hopeful that the ongoing settlement discussions provide the impetus to offer all of the breach victims appropriate credit monitoring and fraud restoration services," Sherman stated. "We have researched more than 40 data breaches at colleges and universities across the country. In almost every instance, credit monitoring and fraud restoration were offered to data breach victims immediately after the breach," said Sherman. "immediately offering credit monitoring to breach victims appears to be the best method to mitigate the potential and unfortunate consequences of any data breach. The willingness of UH to embrace this approach is extremely positive and should serve as a paradigm for government and private entities who expose private information," Sherman added.
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