After the controversial data breaching incident, AshleyMadison.com owners face an enormous $578 million Canadian class-action lawsuit based on reports. Meanwhile, another high-profile account holder of the infidelity site has been admittedly exposed.
Ontario law firms Strosberg LLP together with Charney Lawyers and Sutts filed the lawsuit to Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday in behalf of the possible Canadian victims whose identities went public, ABC 30 Action News revealed. The extra-marital site was reportedly owned by Avid Dating Life Inc. and Avid Life Media Inc. which are located in Toronto.
Notably, the site that uses the catchphrase advertisement "Life is Short. Have an Affair," had 37 million account holders, to which their personal information including credit card details and geographical location were revealed online on Tuesday.
Lawyer Ted Chartney explained that the lawsuit was addressing the site's "paid-delete" option, targeting not the hackers but the owners for being irresponsible.
"They are outraged that AshleyMadison.com failed to protect its users' information. In many cases, the users paid an additional fee for the website to remove all of their user data, only to discover that the information was left intact and exposed," as quoted by ABC 30.
Meanwhile, the data hackers who dubbed themselves as "The Impact Team" claimed that the data breaching incident was indeed successful, pointing the fingers to the site owners as well.
"It was [Avid Life Media] that failed you and lied to you. Prosecute them and claim damages. Then move on with your life. Learn your lesson and make amends. Embarrassing now, but you'll get over it," the hackers released in a statement, as per The Christian Science Monitor.
In other news, it seems that another high-profiled persona admitted that he is indeed an AshleyMadison account holder.
Known for the Casey Anthony case, State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Florida Jeff Ashton reportedly admitted his infidelity to his family and to the public on Tuesday, according to CNN.
"Two years ago, I was curious about the Ashley Madison website, and I used my personal credit card to sign up for the site. I deeply regret my affiliation with the site, which has caused a great amount of stress and heartache to my wife and children," he openly explained.
Notably, the lawyer offered a public apology but made it clear that he did not have an affair and all the reason for his membership was plain curiosity.
Aside from Ashton, "19 Kids and Counting" star Josh Duggar also confessed that he was a member of the infidelity site and said that he was "the biggest unfaithful hypocrite."
