Penalty Amount
$1,250,000
Consumers Affected
180,000
Connecticut, co-leading a multistate investigation, secured a $1.25 million settlement with Carnival Cruise Line over a 2019 data breach affecting approximately 180,000 individuals nationwide. The breach exposed sensitive data including passport numbers, driver's licenses, payment card information, and health data, with a 10-month delay in notification. Carnival agreed to implement enhanced email security measures, a breach response plan, and an independent security assessment.
Carnival must implement and maintain a breach response and notification plan, provide email security training with dedicated phishing exercises, enable multi-factor authentication for remote email access, enforce strong password policies, maintain enhanced behavior analytics tools for network monitoring, and undergo an independent information security assessment.
In-house legal teams should review vendor agreements (especially those involving data processing or sharing), customer privacy policies, and employee data handling agreements. Key clauses to scrutinize include data security provisions (particularly email account protections), breach notification timelines (to avoid delays like the 10-month lapse), data retention and disposal policies (for unstructured data like emails), and audit rights for security assessments. Changes may be needed to mandate specific email security measures (e.g., multi-factor authentication, encryption), require prompt breach notification (e.g., within 72 hours), implement regular independent security audits, enhance data inventory practices for unstructured data, and ensure compliance with all applicable state breach notification laws.
Entity
Carnival Cruise Line
Industry
Other$1.3M
New Jersey, as part of a multistate coalition, settled with Carnival Cruise Line over a 2019 data breach that compromised personal information of approximately 180,000 employees and customers nationwide. The breach resulted from deficiencies in Carnival's data security program and delayed breach notification. Carnival will pay $1.25 million and implement enhanced email security and breach response measures.
$625K
Connecticut reached a $625,000 settlement with Frontier Communications Parent Inc. over an April 2024 breach in which compromised employee and vendor credentials were used to access internal systems and exfiltrate unencrypted personal information of 58,841 Connecticut residents. The settlement requires Frontier to strengthen its security program, implement specific safeguards and training, and obtain an independent third-party assessment.
$2.6M
Connecticut and New York found that Boston Children’s Health Physicians and its security vendor, XTIUM, failed to use reasonable safeguards, resulting in hackers accessing sensitive personal, medical, and employee information. The companies agreed to pay penalties totaling $2.64 million and implement enhanced cybersecurity measures.
Connecticut joined a coalition of state attorneys general filing a notice in Character Technologies, Inc.’s bankruptcy proceedings, raising concerns about the company’s safety and privacy practices and the sensitive information it holds. The states seek protections for children and consumers if the company’s business or assets are sold or transferred; the filing does not impose a fine or other remedy.
Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman petitioned PURA to review how Connecticut public utilities use artificial intelligence, citing potential data privacy and cybersecurity risks, algorithmic errors, and misleading outputs. The petition asks PURA to examine utility AI systems, safeguards, vendors, and data security practices; it does not report a finding of violation or an imposed penalty.
$2.0M
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced a settlement with RZ Smoke, Inc. over allegations that it distributed and sold high-potency cannabis products without a state license. The stipulated judgment is $2 million, with $375,000 payable to the State and $1.6 million suspended to ensure compliance; the company is barred from specified cannabis activities in Connecticut unless licensed.