Mealey's Data Privacy
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June 19, 2024
Judge Rejects AI Hiring Firm’s Attack On Class Jurisdiction Ruling
CHICAGO — An artificial intelligence hiring platform’s contacts in Illinois satisfy Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct. and provide for jurisdiction in the state, a federal judge said June 18 in denying a motion for reconsideration of a ruling denying a motion to dismiss.
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June 19, 2024
Star Tribune’s $2.9M Video Privacy Protection Act Class Settlement Granted Final OK
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minnesota granted final approval of a $2.9 million settlement to be paid by Star Tribune Media Co. LLC to end class claims alleging that it violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) when it shared its website subscribers’ video viewing history with Facebook.
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June 18, 2024
AI Identification Of Child Pornography At Issue In Police Search Case
WAUKESHA, Wis. — An internet company’s artificial intelligence’s flagging of a social media video as suspected child pornography didn’t give a detective sufficient grounds to view the video, and a judge properly excluded the resulting search of a cellphone, a criminal defendant tells a Wisconsin appellate court in defending exclusion of the evidence against him.
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June 17, 2024
Plaintiffs Won’t Amend Privacy Action Involving ChatGPT After Dismissal
SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs confronted with a court ruling finding their privacy and California unfair competition law (UCL) action involving artificial intelligence raises policy concerns more appropriate in a town hall than a courtroom told a federal judge in California on June 14 that they will not amend their complaint and asked the court to close the case.
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June 10, 2024
High Court Grants Facebook Cert Bid To Consider Disclosure Requirements
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 10 granted a petition for a writ of certiorari from the social media giant formerly known as Facebook Inc., agreeing to consider whether the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals widened a circuit split when it found that publicly traded companies must disclose that risks materialized in the past even if the risks do not continue to have the potential to harm investors.
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June 10, 2024
Delaware Vice Chancellor: Shareholder Does Not Show Presuit Demand Was Futile
WILMINGTON, Del. — A vice chancellor in the Delaware Court of Chancery held that a shareholder’s derivative complaint alleging that a telecommunications company failed to prevent its parent company’s alleged scheme to centralize customer data to train artificial intelligence must be dismissed, finding that the shareholder failed to show that making a demand on the board would have been futile.
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June 07, 2024
High Court Wants Officials’ Response To Petition Over Texas Drone Use Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court requested a response from three Texas officials, two of whom had previously opted against filing opposition briefs, to a petition for certiorari in which a journalist and a photographer association claim that a Texas law that curbs the use of drones for aerial photography violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
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June 06, 2024
Defendants In MOVEit Data Breach MDL File Dismissal Arbitration Motions
BOSTON — Two groups of defendants in the ever-growing multidistrict litigation over the theft of personally identifiable information (PII) from users of MOVEit software filed motions asking a Massachusetts federal court to, respectively, compel arbitration from consumers that purportedly agreed to such provisions and dismiss individual suits that they say should never have been consolidated under the home-state exception to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
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June 06, 2024
Judge: Amazon Immune From Workers’ Temperature Scan Class Suit Under PREP Act
CHICAGO — A warehouse worker’s putative class complaint accusing her employer of violating Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by scanning workers’ temperatures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 was terminated by a federal magistrate judge in Illinois who found that the employer was entitled to statutory immunity based on the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act).
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June 03, 2024
$8M Data Breach Class Settlement By Law Firm Preliminarily Approved
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on May 31 preliminarily approved an $8 million class global settlement to be paid by a law firm after its network was breached and the personal identifiable information (PII) of more than 630,000 individuals was potentially accessed.
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May 31, 2024
Putative Class Suit Filed Against Ticketmaster For Hack Of 560M Customers’ Data
LOS ANGELES — Two consumers filed a putative class action in California federal court against Ticketmaster LLC and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. accusing them of negligence and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) for not protecting the data of approximately 560 million customers that was allegedly stolen from its servers in a recent hack.
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May 30, 2024
Judge Certifies Privacy, Publicity Rights Class Action Against Data Aggregator
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on May 29 granted a group of plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class action against a personal information data-aggregator website on behalf of two statewide classes accusing the company of violating plaintiffs’ rights of publicity and against misappropriation of name and likeness and denied the parties’ competing motions to exclude each other’s experts.
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May 29, 2024
Dating App User Dismisses Biometric Data Collection Class Suit After Settlement
CHICAGO — A dating application user and the companies associated with the operation of the app filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal without prejudice of the user’s putative class complaint under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA); the filing in a federal court in Illinois came approximately three months after the parties stated that they reached a settlement.
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May 23, 2024
6 Golden Corral Data Breach Suits Consolidated In North Carolina Federal Court
RALEIGH, N.C. — Citing “judicial economy” and avoiding “the risk of inconsistent rulings,” a North Carolina federal judge granted a motion to consolidate six putative negligence class actions over a 2023 data breach experienced by Golden Corral Corp., which exposed the personally identifiable information (PII) of the buffet restaurant chain’s employees.
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May 14, 2024
COMMENTARY: The Risk In Disclosing Risk Factors
By Jordan Eth and Jocelyn Greer
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May 22, 2024
Judge Gives Final OK To $1.5 Million Settlement Of College Data Breach Suit
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A Michigan federal judge granted final approval of the settlement of a consolidated negligence class action over a data breach experienced by a college in 2022, deeming the $1.5 million agreement to be “fair, reasonable, and adequate.”
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May 21, 2024
Objectors Appeal Final Approval Of Google Location History Settlement
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Three class members who had previously objected to the cy pres nature of a $62 million settlement of a consolidated class action over the purported collection of users’ location data by Google Inc., as well as an accompanying attorney fees award, on May 20 filed notice that they are appealing the final approval of the settlement and the corresponding judgment of a California federal court to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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May 21, 2024
7th Circuit Affirms Court In Coverage Dispute Over BIPA Violation Claims
CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s rulings in a coverage dispute arising from claims that the insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), finding that an umbrella insurance policy provides for defense and indemnity for the insured only after its underlying insurance and deductibles are exhausted.
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May 21, 2024
Judge Preliminarily OKs $2.4 Million Settlement Of Suit Over Lender’s Data Breach
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Less than three months after consolidating six lawsuits over a financial services firm’s November data breach, a Connecticut federal judge granted preliminary approval to a settlement that establishes a $2.45 million fund to settle negligence and contractual claims against the lender.
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May 20, 2024
Insureds To Address Class Exclusion, Diversity In Removed Data Breach Suits
MADISON, Wis. — The parties in seven putative class actions over a 2024 data breach experienced by a health insurance provider were directed by a Wisconsin federal judge to file briefs addressing several issues related to whether the lawsuits were properly removed from state court and whether they should be consolidated in federal court.
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May 17, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Suit Over Amazon’s Use Of Alexa Users’ Voices
PASADENA, Calif. — Finding that Amazon.com Inc. clearly notified consumers that it would use voice data collected via its Alexa digital assistant to send them targeted advertisements, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 16 found that invasion of privacy and bad faith claims against the online retailer failed for lack of causation or any expectation of privacy.
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May 17, 2024
Burger King Franchisee Seeks Summary Judgment In BIPA Violations Coverage Suit
CHICAGO — A franchisee of the Burger King chain moved for summary judgment in its breach of contract lawsuit asking an Illinois federal judge to declare that an excess insurer has a duty to defend it against an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that it violated the Illinois Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA).
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May 17, 2024
9th Circuit Grants En Banc Rehearing Of Data Privacy Suit Against Shopify
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a petition for rehearing en banc of its decision affirming the dismissal for lack of jurisdiction of a putative class complaint accusing a payment processor of violating California privacy and unfair competition laws by concealing that it was collecting, storing and sharing consumers’ personal information.
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May 17, 2024
Certification Of Blackbaud Data Breach Classes Denied; Ascertainability Not Shown
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The named plaintiffs in a multidistrict litigation over a 2020 data breach and ransomware attack experienced by Blackbaud Inc. failed to demonstrate that their proposed classes are “administratively feasible,” a South Carolina federal judge found, denying their motion for class certification while also taking the opportunity to resolve several Daubert motions.
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May 10, 2024
Wawa Data Breach Settlement Attorney Fees Award Again Appealed To 3rd Circuit
PHILADELPHIA — A class member in the consolidated class action over the 2019 data breach experienced by convenience store chain Wawa Inc. maintained his objection to a twice-approved attorney fees award that accompanied a $9 million class settlement, filing notice that he was again appealing the matter to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.