Ashley Madison users in US file lawsuits against cheating website over data release

Eight people across the U.S. who registered to use Ashley Madison are suing the cheating website after hackers released personal and detailed information on them and millions of other users, including credit card numbers and sexual preferences.

The lawsuits were filed between last month and Monday by Ashley Madison users in California, Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee and Minnesota. They all seek class-action status to represent the estimated 37 million registered Ashley Madison users.

The lawsuits, which seek unspecified damages, claim negligence, breach of contract and privacy violations. They claim Ashley Madison failed to take reasonable steps to protect the security of its users, including those who paid a special fee to have their information deleted.

Ashley Madison is offering a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a group that hacked the site.