Lucy Thomson has been chosen by the court as the consumer privacy ombudsman for the Celsius bankruptcy case. Her job will be to protect customer information in case the company is sold.
Judge Martin Glenn, the U.S. judge in charge of the bankruptcy case of crypto lender Celsius Network, has agreed to appoint a consumer privacy ombudsman for the case, according to a court filing from Monday.
Thomson’s LinkedIn page says that since 2008, she has worked as a consumer privacy ombudsman in 25 federal bankruptcy cases. According to her LinkedIn page, she has looked at more than 250 million electronic consumer records that include personal information as part of the sale of assets. She is one of the founders of Livingston PLLC, where she focuses on cybersecurity and other areas where technology and the law meet.
Celsius reluctantly agreed to give out information about its customers, saying that it would “reduce” the value of its customer list when it came time to sell it. In the end, users were able to hide their email and home addresses.
Glenn’s initial decision to force the release of customer information was based on a court case and the lack of proof that doxxing users would put them in danger.
At the beginning of this week, Celsius got approval for its bid, which set the dates and deadlines for a possible sale. As part of this process, customer lists and other information could be sold. The U.S. Trustee, who is the government’s representative in the case, asked the court to name a consumer privacy ombudsman to make sure that customer information is kept safe throughout the process.
Celsius had at first turned down the request because it said the issue was already covered by its privacy policy.
Celsius filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in July of this year, and already some creditors are worried about data security. Recent financial schedules showed customer names and transactions. This is a standard part of the bankruptcy process, but Celsius’s lawyer and the creditor committee didn’t like it.
