Maine, the 49 other states and the District of Columbia will receive millions of dollars after reaching a settlement with Uber Technologies Inc. over the compromise of Uber drivers’ personal information by a data breach two years ago.
Maine’s share will be $612,826, according to a news release issued Tuesday by Attorney General Janet Mills’ office.
The settlement is the result of the California-based company having taken one year to report the data breach to its drivers.
“Uber, like any employer, has a duty to their drivers/employees to keep personal information secure. They failed to do that,” Mills said in a written statement. “And in doing so, they kept the data breach secret and jeopardized the security of their drivers.”
Uber learned in November 2016 that hackers gained access to personal information about Uber drivers, a breach affecting about 600,000 drivers nationwide. Uber did not report the data breach in a timely manner, waiting until November 2017 to make it public.
Mills said the settlement underscores the importance of prompt reporting and remediation, but will also protect Maine Uber drivers’ personal information.
The nationwide settlement requires that Uber pay $148 million to the affected states. In addition, Uber has agreed to strengthen its corporate governance and data security practices to help prevent any similar occurrences in the future.
Mills said that each affected Uber driver in Maine will receive a $100 payment. Only those drivers whose drivers license numbers were compromised by the 2016 data breach will qualify for a payment. Some of those drivers may no longer be working for Uber.
The settlement between Maine and Uber requires the company to comply with state laws governing data breaches and consumer protection. The laws require that victims be notified in the event of a breach affecting their personal information.
Uber must also develop a corporate integrity program to ensure that Uber employees can bring any ethics concerns they may have regarding other drivers to company officials.
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
