Icanonline, the online banking joint venture between M-Web, BoE and NBS, is facing possible legal action following an error that resulted in the personal information of a number of its customers being e-mailed to other clients.
The technical error saw the banking details and identity numbers of six icanonline customers being mailed to subscribers of the Moneymax newsletter. Company representatives said that the error had occurred in the mail server software that served the dual purpose of sending out the Moneymax newsletter as well as processing applications for a BoE credit card.
At the time of the incident, Johan Strijdom, executive director at icanonline, said the six clients affected had been contacted and they had been "incredibly understanding". He also said the six had been offered free banking for life in compensation.
One of the six, however, has decided to take the matter further and in a legal letter has demanded R100 000 in damages from icanonline. Harry Nochumsohn, legal representative for Etienne de Beer, says they had initially demanded R100 000 from icanonline in damages, a figure that the company has rejected. "We are still considering our position... but R100 000 was the initial demand which icanonline has refused." Nochumsohn says he is now considering the option of court action on behalf of his client.
Nochumsohn says that in his opinion, the figure of R100 000 is in fact too low. "If court action is forced onto us by the intransigence of icanonline, then the quantity of the demand could be much higher."
He adds that if the issue has to be taken to court, then his client would incur substantial legal fees and the figure demanded could be as high as R1 million.
"We are entering a new area of law," says Nochumsohn. "It is impossible to quantify the damages done.
"Icanonline has a privacy statement on their site that undertakes not to distribute personal information. Icanonline has done exactly that."
Nochumsohn says this action should send out a strong message to Internet users. "This is an important case. We should notify the public of the inherent danger of online banking of using so-called secure sites."
In a brief statement in response, icanonline says: "Following the legal letter received from the credit card applicant whose details were sent to a small portion of the Moneymax mailing list on Friday, 20 July 2001, we have been advised that the applicant has no cause for legal action and we will, therefore, not accede to the demand. Icanonline has issued an apology."
At least one other person affected by the information leak is considering taking legal action against icanonline.
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