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Mealey's Data Privacy

July 07, 2022
Labor Secretary Loses Protective Order Dispute In Subpoena Row Involving ERISA

CHICAGO — In a July 6 ruling against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in a dispute over a proposed protective order in which the parties agreed on all but one paragraph about providing documents to other government agencies, a federal magistrate judge in Illinois said in part that the order cannot grant use immunity and will not inhibit criminal or civil investigations.
June 29, 2022
Judge Quashes Subpoena Requiring Twitter To Identify Anonymous Tweeter

OAKLAND, Calif. — A company seeking to compel Twitter Inc. to provide identifying information about an anonymous social network user failed to demonstrate that the user’s posting of six copyrighted photos as part of an apparent societal commentary did not constitute fair use, a California federal judge ruled June 21, concluding that the movant did not establish a prima facie case of copyright infringement sufficient to outweigh the Twitter user’s right to speak anonymously under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
June 29, 2022
Stay Denied, Amended Complaint With Names Ordered In Maine Vaccine Dispute

BANGOR, Maine — A federal judge in Maine on June 17 denied a motion to stay sought by Maine health care workers referred to only as Does in their case challenging the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate after being directed to reveal their names and ordered the plaintiffs to file a first amended complaint by July 8.
June 23, 2022
Settlement Announced In Facebook Location-Sharing Privacy Class Action

SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after a settlement was announced between Meta Platforms Inc. and a group of plaintiffs suing the social network operator (formerly known as Facebook Inc.) for collecting their location information without authorization, a California federal judge on June 16 approved the parties’ joint stipulation to hold upcoming deadlines in abeyance while they work out the details of the proposed class settlement.
June 23, 2022
$549 Million Distributed To Claimants In Facebook ‘Tag Suggestions’ Class Action

SAN FRANCISCO — On remand after resolution of an appeal by objectors, the plaintiffs in a consolidated privacy action over the “tag suggestions” feature on Facebook filed a notice of post-distribution accounting in California federal court on June 21, touting a successful settlement notice plan and claims rate, while reporting a distribution of more than $549 million to claimants.
June 22, 2022
4th Circuit Affirms Judgment Against Drivers In 2 DPPA Lawsuits

RICHMOND, Va. — The appellants in two lawsuits brought under the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) were properly disposed of by a trial court, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held June 3, finding that the two groups of drivers did not properly allege that a collection of personal injury lawyers who obtained their personally identifiable information (PII) from accident reports for the purpose of soliciting business did so from motor vehicle records, per the statute.
June 21, 2022
Supreme Court Asked To Define ‘Disclosure’ Per the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Appealing the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that they did not properly allege that their personally identifiable information (PII) was disclosed by being stored in unsecured servers, three Texas motorists in a June 8 petition for certiorari ask the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify what constitutes a “disclosure” of data under the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act of 1994 (DPPA).
June 17, 2022
Securities Claims Against Cybersecurity Firm Miss The Mark, Appellees Argue

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal district court did not err in dismissing shareholder claims against a cybersecurity services provider and two of its senior executives alleging that the defendants misrepresented and failed to disclose that the company would not be able to meet revenue expectations because shareholders failed to sufficiently plead falsity or scienter in pleading their federal securities law claims, the company and executives argue in a May 11 appellee brief filed in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
June 16, 2022
Labor Secretary, Company Dispute Part Of Proposed Confidentiality Order

CHIGAGO — Parties in a suit over an administrative subpoena by the secretary of Labor have largely agreed on a proposed confidentiality order but disagree on one paragraph pertaining to the secretary providing documents to other government agencies, they told an Illinois federal court in filings dated May 27, June 13 and June 27 .
June 14, 2022
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Trespass To Chattels Claim In Suit Against Insurers

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel on June 10 held that appellants failed to allege a trespass to chattels claim against insurers and two investigators, finding that the lower court properly sustained the defendants’ demurrers in a lawsuit alleging that they copied the appellants' electronic litigation files from a third-party computer system.
June 13, 2022
Supreme Court Rebuffs State Secrets Privilege Question In NSA Surveillance Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A lower court’s ruling disposing of claims under the Stored Communications Act (SCA) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) over the National Security Agency’s domestic data-collection activities will stand, with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on June 13 to deny a group of U.S. citizens’ petition for certiorari in which they questioned whether either statute displaced the state secrets privilege in their suit.
June 13, 2022
Debit Card Receipt Class Suit Remanded For Lack Of Injury-In-Fact

CHICAGO — A putative class complaint accusing a soap and lotion retailer of violating the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) by failing to truncate debit card numbers on receipts belongs in state court as it does not sufficiently allege an injury-in-fact, a federal judge in Illinois ruled June 3, granting the plaintiff’s motion to remand.
June 13, 2022
Class Suit Over COVID-19 Contact Tracing Data Breach Stayed For Private Mediation

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A putative class complaint accusing an employment staffing company of failing to safeguard private health information (PHI) contained in Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 contract tracing lists and failing to timely notify those affected by the breach was stayed June 1 by a federal judge in Pennsylvania who granted a joint consent motion filed by the parties so that they may engage in private mediation.
June 13, 2022
Discovery Sanctions, Summary Judgment Ruling Issued In Meta Data-Harvesting Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Meta Platforms Inc. was handed a mixed victory on June 6 when a California federal magistrate judge partly granted its motions for spoliation sanctions and partial summary judgment in a suit in which the social network operator brings claims for computer fraud and unfair competition against a consulting firm that scraped user data from Facebook.
June 10, 2022
Capital One Hacker Denied Access To Unredacted Expert Witness Emails

SEATTLE — A former Amazon Web Services Inc. employee who is on trial for computer fraud in connection with hacking the computer systems of Capital One Financial Corp. was denied full access to unredacted emails of two of the government’s expert witnesses on June 8, with a Washington federal judge finding that the defendant did not establish that the withheld portions contained any information upon which the witnesses relied, thus leaving the emails protected under the work product doctrine intact.
June 08, 2022
Health Care Workers Seek Stay To Appeal Order To Reveal Names In Vaccine Case

BANGOR, Maine — Maine health care workers referred to only as Does in their case challenging the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate filed a motion to stay proceedings in a federal court in Maine on June 7, the day they were ordered to file an amended complaint revealing their names.
June 06, 2022
High Court Seeks Solicitor General’s Input In FSIA Sovereign Immunity Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its June 6 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the U.S. solicitor general to weigh in on whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) excludes sovereign immunity for private entities acting as agents for foreign states, as the high court considers whether to grant certiorari to Israeli-owned NSO Group Technologies Limited, which WhatsApp Inc. sued for computer fraud after NSO used its messaging platform to send spyware to some of its users.
June 03, 2022
After Reversal, Remand, Comcast Customer Dismisses Privacy, Unfair Competition Suit

OAKLAND, Calif. — In the wake of a judge’s remand ruling granting Comcast Cable Communications LLC’s motion to compel arbitration, a subscriber of the internet service provider on May 27 filed a notice in California federal court voluntarily dismissing his class claims under California and federal privacy laws and under California’s unfair competition law (UCL).
May 31, 2022
Twitter To Pay $150 Million To Settle Claims Over Data Privacy Misrepresentations

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge on May 26 signed a stipulated order, enforcing an agreement between the U.S. government and Twitter Inc., under which the social network operator agrees to pay a civil penalty of $150 million to settle claims that it violated federal law and ran afoul of a decade-old agreement with the Federal Trade Commission regarding the security and privacy of its users’ nonpublic contact information.
May 26, 2022
Injunction-Only Agreement In Class Action Over Insurer’s Data Breach Gets Final OK

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A long-running consolidated lawsuit over a 2015 data breach experienced by Excellus Health Plan Inc. received final approval on April 29, with a New York federal judge deeming injunctive relief guaranteeing improved cybersecurity practices by the insurer to be appropriate and in accordance with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 and a previous ruling that had certified only a class for injunctive relief.
May 26, 2022
Appeals Of Wawa Data Breach Consumer Class Settlement Consolidated In 3rd Circuit

PHILADELPHIA — Observing that unresolved jurisdictional questions remain over whether a trial court’s final approval of a settlement in the consolidated class action over Wawa Inc.’s 2019 data breach constituted a final, appealable order, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals clerk on May 24 allowed two appeals by objectors to the settlement to proceed in a consolidated fashion.
May 26, 2022
Preliminary Approval Sought For $63 Million Settlement Of OPM Data Breach Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After almost seven years of litigation, two government employee labor unions and a group of past and present government employees filed a motion in District of Columbia federal court on May 6, seeking preliminary approval of a proposed $63 million settlement of their Privacy Act claims over a 2015 data breach experienced by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
May 25, 2022
The Gap’s Rehearing Window Extended In 9th Circuit Data Breach Arbitration Row

PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 23 granted a deadline extension motion by The Gap Inc., giving the retailer an additional 30 days to seek rehearing of a ruling that rebuffed its quest to invoke a credit card agreement arbitration clause in a lawsuit over a data breach, in which the panel concluded that the clothing store chain, as a nonparty to the agreement, was not entitled to claim the benefits of the clause.
May 25, 2022
9th Circuit Denies Years-Old Rehearing Petition In Suit Over National Security Letters

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 4-1/2 years after two electronic communications service providers (ECSPs) asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to rethink its 2017 decision upholding the constitutionality of the nondisclosure requirement of national security letters (NSLs) used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to gather information on their customers, a panel on May 11 denied rehearing or rehearing en banc.
May 24, 2022
Microsoft, Amazon Deny Any Violation Of Illinois Biometric Law

SEATTLE — In summary judgment motions filed May 19 in parallel lawsuits in Washington federal court, Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. argue that they cannot be found liable under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) for downloading a dataset of facial scans because none of the accused acts took place in Illinois and because they had no knowledge that the photos were not public domain or that the collection included scans of Illinois residents.