JetBlue sued for disclosing passenger data
Tuesday September 23, 7:50 pm ET
LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Two groups of passengers have filed lawsuits against JetBlue Airways Corp in California and Utah (NasdaqNM:JBLU - News) for secretly giving the names of more than a million of its passengers to an anti-terrorism screening program.
Separately, an official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would examine whether anyone at the agency had misused the customer records in the course of that project.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday in Salt Lake City, a group of five plaintiffs sued the low-cost airline for fraud, misrepresentation breach of contract and invasion of privacy and asked that the complaint be cleared as a class-action.
The Utah lawsuit asks for compensatory, but not punitive damages.
A second proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday charging JetBlue with violating the privacy of its passengers.
A representative of JetBlue was not immediately available to comment on the legal claims.
The pair of lawsuits were filed on the same day that The Electronic Privacy Information Center asked federal regulators to prosecute the airline for handing over the passenger data.
New York-based JetBlue said last week that it had violated its own privacy policy by giving information on 1.1 million customers to a U.S. Defense Department (News - Websites) contractor involved in an anti-terrorism project.
Torch Concepts, of Huntsville, Alabama, a data-mining company, used the names, addresses and flight information Jet Blue provided to produce a study intended to help the government assess potential terrorist threats.
JetBlue Chief Executive David Neeleman apologized to customers in an e-mail and the company said it had hired Deloitte & Touche to review its privacy policy.
"This is a good company. Mr. Neeleman has admitted that the company made a mistake," said Utah attorney James McConkie, who represents plaintiffs in the Salt Lake City lawsuit. "We want to fashion a fair and equitable relief."
Nuala O'Connor Kelly, chief privacy officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said she would investigate whether anyone at the agency misused customer records.
"My understanding at this point is there was virtually no involvement by any now-component of DHS. However, I am reserving judgment until I know all the facts and have done a thorough investigation of what employees and what transpired and what conversations were had, but most importantly, what data was held by what entity at what time," she said.
Stephen Yagman, a prominent Los Angeles civil rights lawyer, who is representing plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit could not be immediately reached for comment. (Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington)
Tuesday September 23, 7:50 pm ET
LOS ANGELES, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Two groups of passengers have filed lawsuits against JetBlue Airways Corp in California and Utah (NasdaqNM:JBLU - News) for secretly giving the names of more than a million of its passengers to an anti-terrorism screening program.
Separately, an official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it would examine whether anyone at the agency had misused the customer records in the course of that project.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday in Salt Lake City, a group of five plaintiffs sued the low-cost airline for fraud, misrepresentation breach of contract and invasion of privacy and asked that the complaint be cleared as a class-action.
The Utah lawsuit asks for compensatory, but not punitive damages.
A second proposed class-action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Monday charging JetBlue with violating the privacy of its passengers.
A representative of JetBlue was not immediately available to comment on the legal claims.
The pair of lawsuits were filed on the same day that The Electronic Privacy Information Center asked federal regulators to prosecute the airline for handing over the passenger data.
New York-based JetBlue said last week that it had violated its own privacy policy by giving information on 1.1 million customers to a U.S. Defense Department (News - Websites) contractor involved in an anti-terrorism project.
Torch Concepts, of Huntsville, Alabama, a data-mining company, used the names, addresses and flight information Jet Blue provided to produce a study intended to help the government assess potential terrorist threats.
JetBlue Chief Executive David Neeleman apologized to customers in an e-mail and the company said it had hired Deloitte & Touche to review its privacy policy.
"This is a good company. Mr. Neeleman has admitted that the company made a mistake," said Utah attorney James McConkie, who represents plaintiffs in the Salt Lake City lawsuit. "We want to fashion a fair and equitable relief."
Nuala O'Connor Kelly, chief privacy officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said she would investigate whether anyone at the agency misused customer records.
"My understanding at this point is there was virtually no involvement by any now-component of DHS. However, I am reserving judgment until I know all the facts and have done a thorough investigation of what employees and what transpired and what conversations were had, but most importantly, what data was held by what entity at what time," she said.
Stephen Yagman, a prominent Los Angeles civil rights lawyer, who is representing plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit could not be immediately reached for comment. (Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Washington)