Marriott was literally, prima facie, the victim of a hacker. The data didn't steal itself. Someone trespassed into Marriott's network and stole data that did not belong to them.

Legal culpability, while certainly not the strong point of HN, is a thing. Negligent, grossly negligent, and reckless conduct are technical terms that exist and have meaning.

I'm sick of replying to this because I don't like defending Marriott in this case. I hope they get a painful class action ruling. I think legal reforms around this are needed, but I am entirely unconvinced anyone here has a reasonable framework of regulations that would benefit anyone.