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Mealey's Data Privacy

February 21, 2024
4 More Suits Consolidated In Fortra File Transfer Data Breach MDL

MIAMI — One week after consolidating 46 putative class actions related to more than 100 data breaches attributed to hackers’ exploitation of vulnerabilities in file-transfer software, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) consolidated four more related suits with the others in the multidistrict litigation in Florida federal court.
February 20, 2024
Google Says UCL, Other Claims In AI Training Lawsuit Fail

SAN FRANCISCO — Vague allegations and hypothetical damages involving the scraping of websites and other sources for data used in the training of artificial intelligence cannot form the basis of California unfair competition law (UCL) and other claims because the potential usage was adequately disclosed and individuals lack a privacy interest in information they themselves publicly disclosed, Google LLC tells a federal judge in California in seeking dismissal.
February 20, 2024
Home Depot Customer Sues Over Use Of Google AI To Access, Record Phone Calls

LOS ANGELES — In a putative class action filed in California federal court, a Los Angeles man alleges that The Home Depot Inc. violated California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) by using an artificial intelligence product from Google Inc. to listen to, analyze and record customers’ phone calls without their knowledge or consent.
February 16, 2024
7th Circuit: Minors Not Bound By Arbitration Clause In Ancestry.Com Privacy Suit

CHICAGO — Affirming a trial court’s denial of a motion by Ancestry.com DNA LLC to compel arbitration of a putative genetic privacy class action against it, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 15 found that because the minor plaintiffs were not signatories to the terms and conditions on Ancestry’s website, they were not bound by the arbitration provision to which their guardians agreed.
February 15, 2024
RICO Claim Tossed From Suit Alleging App Captures Data With Cyberpirated Marks

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California denied arbitration and dismissed a Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act claim from a putative class complaint accusing a software company of collecting and selling personal data from a budgeting application for smartphones and of using cyberpirated trademarks and other information to entice users to enter their banking information but permitted the app user’s remaining claims under Utah and California law to proceed.
February 15, 2024
Meta Asks D.C. Circuit To Enjoin FTC From Modifying $5 Billion Privacy Judgment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a reply brief supporting its motion for an injunction pending appeal, Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.) asks the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stop the Federal Trade Commission from reopening a 2020 $5 billion privacy settlement while it pursues an appeal of a trial court ruling, arguing that the commission does not have jurisdiction to unilaterally revise the stipulated order in that case.
February 14, 2024
Reconsideration Of Partial Dismissal Of Website Data Collection Claims Sought

SAN DIEGO — Papa John’s International Inc. filed a motion for reconsideration in a federal court in California after a judge partially granted its motion to dismiss a putative class complaint alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) through the alleged interception and collection of users’ data on a pizza-ordering webpage, in light of the ruling in Briskin v. Shopify.
February 12, 2024
Google Tells 9th Circuit Chrome Users Consented To Data Collection, Use

SAN FRANCISCO — In a Feb. 9 appellee brief, Google LLC explains to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the parties alleging privacy violations related to the purported collection and sharing of their personally identifiable information (PII) through the Chrome web browser “undisputedly agreed” to its privacy policy and related agreements “that describe the precise data collection and use” of which they complain, asking that the trial court ruling that disposed of all their claims be affirmed.
February 02, 2024
Insured Seeks Coverage For Claims It Violated BIPA By Using Biometric Time Clocks

CHICAGO — An insured filed a breach of contract lawsuit in an Illinois federal court, seeking a declaration as to coverage for an underlying putative class lawsuit alleging that it violated the Illinois Biometric Privacy Act (BIPA) by using biometric time clocks to track employee working hours.
January 30, 2024
Judge Denies Meta’s Dismissal Motion In Pixel Privacy Suit, Deems Harm Claims OK

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of Facebook users adequately amended their claims after a partial dismissal ruling, a California federal judge ruled Jan. 29, denying Meta Platforms Inc.’s renewed motion to dismiss privacy claims related to its purported collection of users’ protected health information (PHI).
January 30, 2024
5th Circuit: Texas Drone Regulations Don’t Violate 1st Amendment

NEW ORLEANS — In a revised opinion issued after a grant of partial rehearing, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that a Texas law that places certain restrictions on the use of drones does not violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because the no-fly restrictions at issue have nothing to do with speech or expression and because the state has a significant interest in protecting its citizens’ privacy rights.
January 29, 2024
Planned Parenthood’s $6M Data Breach Class Settlement Preliminarily Approved

LOS ANGELES — A California judge granted preliminary approval of a $6 million settlement to be paid by Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA) to settle a consolidated class complaint accusing the reproductive health care provider of failing to protect patients’ personally identifiable information (PII) and protected health information (PHI) from being accessed and stolen.
January 26, 2024
Federal Judge Consolidates 2 Data-Sharing Class Suits By Kroger Pharmacy Customers

CINCINNATI — A federal judge in Ohio granted an unopposed motion to consolidate two putative class complaints accusing a supermarket chain of installing and using a tracking pixel on its pharmacy website to collect and share confidential patient information.
January 25, 2024
Judge: Google Waived Right To Compel Arbitration In Digital Assistant Privacy Row

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Conducting a totality of the circumstances review, a California federal judge concluded that Google LLC waived its right to seek arbitration of putative class claims over alleged eavesdropping by the Google Assistant (GA) app, denying the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration, which was filed after four years of “substantial motion practice,” discovery and class certification.
January 24, 2024
Meta Denied Injunction Of FTC Proceedings Over Revised Privacy Judgment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Concluding that Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly known as Facebook Inc.) did “not attempt to show a likelihood of success on the merits” of its appeal over the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to reopen and revise a $5 billion privacy consent judgment, a District of Columbia federal judge declined to grant to the social network operator’s motion to enjoin the commission’s proceedings during the appeals process.
January 23, 2024
WhatsApp, NSO Defend Discovery Requests In Spyware Dispute

OAKLAND, Calif. — WhatsApp Inc. asks a California federal court to order defendant NSO Group Technologies Limited to submit documents related to all the different types of spyware that the Israeli company used to spy on its users in a reply brief supporting its motion to compel discovery responses, while the defendant maintains that it is entitled to information about the company that aided the plaintiff in its investigation related to the claimed surveillance of WhatsApp users.
January 22, 2024
Consolidated Mr. Cooper Data Breach Plaintiffs To Submit Proposed Deadlines

DALLAS — Eight days after 20 putative class actions over a data breach experienced by Mr. Cooper Group Inc. were consolidated in Texas federal court, the judge granted the mortgage servicer’s motion for relief from the impending deadline for it to respond to the complaint against it, directing the parties to submit an agreed-upon schedule with proposed deadlines for filing motions, an amended complaint and other items.
January 18, 2024
Partial Dismissal Granted In Class Suit Over Papa John’s Website Data Collection

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California partially granted a pizza franchisor’s motion to dismiss a putative class complaint alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) through the alleged interception and collection of users’ data on a pizza ordering webpage, finding that the lead plaintiff failed to show that there were telephone communications at issue or that there was an imminent threat of harm in the future.
January 12, 2024
Hospital Personnel Must Produce Some Documents In Surveillance Lawsuit

SAN DIEGO — A couple who successfully defended themselves against a hospital’s reports of child abuse and neglect are entitled to records of their daughter’s treatment and communications related to the purportedly invasive surveillance of the family undertaken by the hospital, a California federal magistrate judge found, partly granting the plaintiffs’ motion to compel additional responses from two of the hospital’s personnel who were involved in the surveillance.
January 10, 2024
Plaintiffs Amend Claims Accusing Google Of Data ‘Theft’ To Train AI Chatbot

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of previously anonymous putative class action plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in California federal court identifying themselves as a New York Times bestselling author and several users of Google LLC services, all now accusing Google of “data theft” and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL), copyright laws and other statutes by using their data to train its artificial intelligence chatbot known as “Bard.”
January 09, 2024
23andMe Faces Potential MDL After Breach Of 6.9M Customers’ Data

SAN FRANCISCO — Two consumers filed a complaint in California federal court accusing 23andMe Inc. of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) after the genetic testing company revealed that ancestral records for roughly 6.9 million customers were hacked and being sold online. The breach is the subject of more than 30 lawsuits that the company is asking the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) to consolidate.
January 08, 2024
Supreme Court Won’t Hear X’s Challenge To Gag Order Over Government Surveillance

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With a denial of its petition for certiorari on Jan. 8, X Corp. (formerly Twitter Inc.) lost its bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court consider its assertion that not being permitted to publicize its compelled involvement with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s domestic surveillance program violated its First Amendment rights.
January 03, 2024
Google Browsing History Data Suit Stayed While Settlement Is Finalized

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Two days after Google LLC and the plaintiffs suing it for the surreptitious interception and collection of their internet browsing history jointly filed notice of a preliminary settlement of privacy and unfair competition claims, a California federal judge granted the parties’ request to stay the case and vacate a pending trial date while they finalize the agreement.
January 03, 2024
Federal Judge: No Jurisdiction Over Class Wiretapping Claims Against Website

BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland granted dismissal of a putative class complaint accusing a website of wiretapping visitors’ electronic communications in violation of Maryland’s statutory and common law, finding that the Mayland woman who brought the complaint failed to show that she suffered a concrete injury or that any of the alleged violations exposed her to an increased risk of identity theft.
December 21, 2023
Mortgagors Suing Over Data Theft May Seek Only Declaratory, Injunctive Relief

MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida largely granted a motion to dismiss by loan servicers whose data was accessed and personally identifiable information (PII) was stolen, permitting the mortgagors to proceed only with their final claim for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief.