Safaricom Hits Back Accusing Petitioner Of Stealing Customer Data In The Ksh115 Trillion Lawsuit

Last year July Safaricom was sued in a class-action suit with one Benedict Kabugi Ngungu, for mishandling customer data. According to the case file, the telco was taken to court for allegedly exposing sports betting history and biodata of 11.5million subscribers.

At the time, the petitioner said that one of the company’s subscriber approached him with personal data of 11.5 million subscribers. The lawsuit wanted the telco to pay Ksh 110 trillion as compensation for violation of data privacy laws.

As the Standard reports, Safaricom has now hit back accusing Mr Benedict Kabugi of stealing personal data of millions of users then demanding ransom.

“The petitioner’s knowledge and possession of the said data is in fact the result of criminal activities which the petitioner either fully participated in or was an accessory to,” wrote the company in its replying affidavit.

The data stolen included almost every aspect of a customer from their age, full names, mobile number, gender, ID numbers, passport numbers, the total amount of cash gambled, type and make of device used and even their location.

The telco argues that these data was stolen and should be considered part of a criminal investigation with Mr Benard part of the key suspects. Safaricom wants the lawsuit banished, as a result.

“As long as the criminal case has not been concluded, it is impermissible, unjust and an abuse of the court process for the petitioner to prosecute a petition through which he seeks to benefit from his own illegal and criminal conduct,” states the company in the replying affidavit.

Last year the news about the class action lawsuit came just two weeks after two of the telco’s workers were charged for trying to obtain Ksh 300 million from the company.

Follow us on Telegram, Twitter, Facebook, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter to ensure you don’t miss out on any future updates.