Canada-wide Class Action Litigation Launched regarding Missing Student Loan Information of 583,000 Canadians

CALGARY, Jan. 17, 2013 /CNW/ - Class action litigation is being launched today against the federal government seeking compensation for all Canadians whose personal information has been lost due to a missing portable hard drive containing personal information of more than half a million Canadians who have received student loans.  Human Resources and Skills Development Canada has identified that the data device found to be missing from an HRSDC office in Gatineau in early November and has not be recovered.  The hard drive had personal information on 583,000 Canadians who dealt with the Canada Student Loans program from 2000 to 2006.

"Merchant Law Group is filing class action lawsuits with the Courts in Calgary and Winnipeg, with similar actions to follow shortly as part of Canada-wide class action litigation against the federal government for this serious loss of personal information concerning more than 580,000 Canadians. One of the many important issues raised in this litigation is that this privacy breach involves the federal government having lost not just people's names and addresses, but also their SIN numbers and dates of birth, and that a loss discovered in early November was only disclosed to the Canadian public in January", said Tony Merchant, Q.C.  "The people who have contacted our law firm wish to be promptly protected from identity theft or other misuse of their personal information."

"When affected Canadians call their financial institutions, they are encouraged to hire online identity theft protection services for $15 to $30 a month, but there are no offers by the federal government to either protect people or compensate them for obtaining protection services.  583,000 Canadians are being set adrift," Mr. Merchant said.

Merchant Law Group LLP has twelve offices across Canada, from Montreal to Victoria. Merchant Law Group LLP is well known for their involvement in mass tort and class action cases in Canada, which include lawsuits involving Winners, Residential Schools, Cellular System Access Fees, Hollinger, Maple Leaf Foods, and many other cases on our website.

SOURCE: Merchant Law Group

Anyone who wishes to obtain further information about the student loan class action should provide their contact information at http://merchantlaw.com/classactions/