A federal lawsuit accuses San Antonio-based Visionworks of America Inc. and its chain of more than 700 optical shops of failing to notify 40,000 customers after their data was exposed in a cyberattack.
The suit, filed Dec. 23 in U.S. District Court in San Antonio, alleges Visionworks suffered a data breach on Oct. 10 but didn’t begin notifying customers until last month. The plaintiff, an Arizona customer, is seeking class-action status for the legal claim, which also accuses the company of failing to adequately protect its computer systems.
Visionworks officials were unavailable Thursday for comment on the lawsuit.
Those who conducted the electronic break-in of Visionworks’ systems acquired customers’ names, birth dates, email addresses, addresses and Social Security numbers along with financial and medical data, the suit alleges.
The petition also argues that Visionworks was negligent in protecting data, putting exposed customers at a “present and ongoing risk of fraud and identity theft for many years into the future, if not forever.” The plaintiff seeks monetary compensation for those caught up in the alleged breach along with an order requiring the retailer to implement safeguards against future hacks. The suit also asks that Visionworks pay for at least five years of credit monitoring for affected customers, which can cost $200 or more.
While Visionworks offered credit monitoring services to some people whose data was exposed, the suit maintains that offer is “inadequate” given the serious nature of the data involved. Those caught up in the data breach will be at risk for “years to come,” the plaintiff alleges. Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.
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This article appears in Dec 26, 2024 – Jan 1, 2025.