Facebook, Under Armour, Panera Bread, they’ve all been victims of hackers, possibly giving up personal information on millions of customers, with little recourse available, but now the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled employers are responsible for protecting the personal data of those who work for them.

That’s little comfort for the 5 million customers of Saks Fifth Ave. that had their personal information compromised, but it is a step in the right direction.

[uam_ad id=”54865″]

In a recent ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that employers are legally responsible for protecting workers’ sensitive information, and that companies who don’t safeguard personnel data can now be found negligent and become subject to financial losses, writes Robert Brod for whyy.org. 

The case is rooted in a data breach that occurred at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2014.

The birth dates, addresses, and social security numbers of 62,000 employees were stolen. Because of this, numerous false tax returns were filed and many of the employees were unable to collect their tax refunds.  The group banded together to file a class action suit with the hospital to seek damages.

To read the complete story click here. 

[uam_ad id=”54875″]