A neighborhood college is dealing with a $5 million lawsuit for an “unlawful breach of privacy” after a former soccer coach allegedly hacked into college students’ accounts and accessed intimate images and movies.
A former student-athlete at Simmons College has filed a class-action swimsuit in Massachusetts U.S. District Courtroom towards the Boston faculty, alleged hacker Matthew Weiss, and tech vendor Keffer Improvement Providers.
The lawsuit alleges that Simmons and the tech vendor didn’t defend college students from Weiss, a former College of Michigan and Baltimore Ravens coach — who’s now underneath federal indictment for unauthorized entry to non-public accounts and the theft of intimate images and movies.
The “Jane Doe” who introduced this swimsuit was on the cross-country staff at Simmons, and now lives in Plymouth County.
“Plaintiff Jane Doe brings this lawsuit on behalf of herself and all others who have been subjected to an unlawful breach of privacy, stemming from former University of Michigan and Baltimore Ravens coach Matthew Weiss’ unauthorized access of athletic trainer databases maintained by a third-party vendor, Keffer Development Services, LLC,” the lawsuit reads.
“Students and alumni connected to Simmons University from 2015 to 2023—many of them student-athletes—have been subjected to a deeply troubling and unlawful breach of privacy, stemming from the actions of former University of Michigan and Baltimore Ravens coach Matthew Weiss, whose gross and despicable violations of their privacy were facilitated by institutional negligence,” the swimsuit states.
Jane Doe has reportedly acquired a discover from the U.S. Division of Justice that her personal info was breached by Weiss.
The category-action swimsuit “seeks justice for the unauthorized access and misuse of personal information—an abuse so severe that students and student-athletes across the nation are now receiving formal notification from the U.S. Department of Justice that their private information, including intimate photos and videos, have been exposed, including Plaintiff Jane Doe.”
“This action is brought to hold the Defendants accountable for failing to protect their students from foreseeable harm,” the lawsuit reads.
The previous Simmons athlete’s electronically saved info was housed and guarded by the Simmons College database.
The ex-student has felt “violated, deeply disturbed, humiliated, embarrassed, and extremely emotionally distressed,” in response to the swimsuit, which provides, “As a direct result of the negligence, recklessness, and misconduct of the Defendants, Jane Doe and those similarly situated have incurred substantial monetary and emotional damages exceeding $5,000,000, exclusive of costs, interest, and fees.”
A spokesperson for Simmons College stated in an announcement on Wednesday, “While we cannot comment on the specifics of the pending litigation, we want to emphasize that we take matters of student privacy and online security extremely seriously and remain committed to protecting our community.”
Weiss was not too long ago indicted on 24 counts of unauthorized entry and aggravated id theft of pupil athlete info, because the feds allege he gained unauthorized entry to student-athlete databases of greater than 100 faculties.
Weiss allegedly downloaded the personally identifiable info and medical knowledge of greater than 150,000 athletes.
He’s accused of acquiring entry to the social media, electronic mail, and/or cloud storage accounts of greater than 2,000 goal athletes. Weiss additionally illegally obtained entry to the social media, electronic mail, and/or cloud storage accounts of greater than 1,300 extra college students and/or alumni from universities throughout the nation.
He allegedly downloaded private, intimate digital pictures and movies that have been by no means supposed to be shared past intimate companions.
