Air India flyer seeks Rs 30 lakh as damages over data breach
An Air India flyer is seeking Rs. 30 lakh as damages for the Air India data breach. Around March 2021, a sophisticated cyber-attack on its Passenger Service System (PSS) provider leaked data of 45 lakh users. At that point in time however, the national Airline could not disclose the extent of damage caused by the attack. It also stated that it is in contact with various regulatory agencies in India and abroad and has apprised them about the incident in accordance with its obligations.
In May 2021, it disclosed details of the data breach and the mitigation measures undertaken. This data breach impacted around 45 lakh users. The flyer seeking damages is one of them. The flyer is claiming Rs 30 lakh in damages.
The Notice
The legal notice to Air India is sent by Ritika Handoo, a Delhi-based journalist. She accused Air India of “knowingly, intentionally and deliberately leaking the personal data and for breach of sensitive information.” The notice is sent through Advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey.
According to the notice, Chapter VII of the Company’s Customer Care Data Privacy Policy clearly states that all customers retain control over their data/information to the extent possible, allowing them to change personal information in their records unless there are exceptional circumstances such as law and order situation.
“Now that my client does not have any control over personal information as the same is stolen, it violates my client’s right to privacy and right to be forgotten as this loss of control over his personal data has led to a loss of my client’s informational autonomy, which is guaranteed as a fundamental right by the Supreme Court in Justice K.S. Puttuswamy (Retd.) & Anr. Vs. Union of India & Ors,” the notice said.
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