Certegy settlement notification program gets under way

Notices are going out in the mail regarding a proposed settlement in a class action lawsuit stemming from a data theft at Certegy Check Services Inc.

The notification program began today in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to a release from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

The lawsuit claimed that Certegy, a St. Petersburg unit of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (NYSE: FIS), did not adequately protect confidential and personal information of its clients when a senior database administrator employed by Certegy took confidential information of consumers' records and sold them to a third party for marketing purposes.

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The administrator, William Sullivan of Largo, was fired and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud in the case.

Certegy denies it did anything wrong, and the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or an indication any law was violated, the release said.

The proposed settlement calls for Certegy to reimburse losses resulting from identity theft from the stolen records and to provide free credit monitoring. No one person could recover more than $20,000 from Certegy, and Certegy's total liability would be limited to $4 million, the settlement agreement says.

Those eligible for the settlement include anyone in the United States and Puerto Rico whose credit card, debit card, checking or demand deposit account numbers or information was included in multiple databases. This includes millions of consumers who were previously notified by their financial institution or Certegy that their personal and/or financial information was stolen, the release said.

Notices informing those eligible for the settlement about their legal rights will be mailed and are scheduled to appear in publications in the United States and Puerto Rico leading up to a hearing on Aug. 22, when the court will consider whether to grant final approval to the settlement, the release said.