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Mealey's Data Privacy

June 26, 2023
Consolidated Class Suit Alleges Voice ID AI Software Violates Calif. Privacy Act

OAKLAND, Calif. — Three California citizens filed a consolidated class complaint in a federal court in their state accusing a software company of multiple privacy violations in connection with its artificial intelligence (AI) software that permits companies to authenticate customers’ identifies with their voice.
June 22, 2023
Revised $23 Million Agreement In Google Referrer Header Privacy Row Initially OK’d

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Eight years after approving a previous settlement in a decade-old consolidated Stored Communications Act (SCA) class action against Google LLC, a California federal judge preliminarily approved a newly negotiated settlement that focuses on direct relief to consumers rather than to cy pres recipients, which had led to objections and a U.S. Supreme Court appeal of the first settlement.
June 22, 2023
Insureds: Class Certification Merited For Contract Claim Over 2014 Data Breach

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a reply brief supporting their renewed motion for class certification, plaintiff policyholders whose personally identifiable information (PII) was stolen in a 2014 data breach tell a District of Columbia federal court that their breach of contract claim against their insurer satisfies all class treatment requirements of Article III of the U.S. Constitution and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(a).
June 21, 2023
Dismissal Motion Hearing Date Set In Privacy, UCL Class Suit Over Meta’s Data Tracking

SAN FRANCISCO — Approving a stipulation by Meta Platforms Inc. and the plaintiffs who sued it for alleged violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), a California federal judge rescheduled a hearing for Meta’s dismissal motion for the third time, this time setting it for Aug. 17.
June 20, 2023
Google, Device Users Request More Time To Finalize Location-Tracking Privacy Suit

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A month and a half after Google LLC and the lead plaintiffs in a putative privacy class action over purported location tracking of their devices announced that they had reached a settlement, the parties filed a joint statement informing a California federal court that finalization of the agreement “has taken longer than anticipated,” thus prompting them to ask the court for additional time to do so.
June 19, 2023
Testers’ VPPA Allegation Over Folgers Website Dismissed For Lack Of Jurisdiction

SAN FRANCISCO — Two self-described privacy advocates and “testers” failed to establish that the website for Folgers Coffee is purposefully directed at California, a California federal judge concluded, granting a motion by Folgers’ owner The J.M. Smucker Co. to dismiss a putative class action under the Video Protection Privacy Act (VPPA) for lack of personal jurisdiction.
June 19, 2023
Google, YouTube Users Reply To FTC’s Amicus Brief In Children’s Privacy Suit

SEATTLE — Responding to an amicus curiae brief filed by the Federal Trade Commission, Google LLC and a group of minor YouTube users reiterate their competing positions on the scope of the preemption clause of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in the context of Google’s motion for rehearing by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a panel ruling that reinstated state law privacy and consumer class claims against the technology giant.
June 19, 2023
Insurer Owes Coverage For BIPA Violation Claims Against Insured, Panel Affirms

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling that a business liability insurer owes coverage for two underlying putative class actions alleging that the insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), agreeing with the lower court that the facial breadth of the catch-all provision in the violation-of-statues exclusion gives rise to an ambiguity in the insurance policy that must be construed in favor of the insured.
June 15, 2023
Directors Want T-Mobile AI-Based Data Breach Securities Case Dismissed

WILMINGTON, Del. — Current and former company directors asked the Delaware Chancery Court to dismiss a derivative securities action claiming that T-Mobile US Inc.’s largest shareholder implemented a “hurriedly” enacted data mining plan designed to feed the owner’s machine learning and artificial intelligence platform, resulting in customer data breaches.
June 15, 2023
Asbestos Expert’s Employer Seeks To Quash Study Subject Subpoena, Impose Sanctions

NEW YORK — Asbestos expert Jacqueline Moline’s employer on June 14 asked a court to quash a subpoena from a party to a suit, saying the information the defendant sought was already largely available and that production would violate health information privacy regulations and asking that the court impose sanctions.
June 14, 2023
Vizio Tells 9th Circuit Its 4th Amended Complaint Is ‘More Than Sufficient’

SAN FRANCISCO — Responding to an insurer’s contention that its appeal “merely regurgitates the same failed arguments,” Vizio Inc. tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the allegations in its fourth amended complaint are “more than sufficient” to permit it to proceed past the pleading stage in its lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying $17 million settlement and defense costs arising from class claims alleging unauthorized collections of consumers’ television viewing data.
June 13, 2023
Taco Bell Worker Seeks Reconsideration After Biometric Data Arbitration Order

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A Taco Bell employee who alleges in a putative class complaint in a federal court in Illinois that workers’ biometric data is collected, used and stored in violation of that state’s law moved for reconsideration or clarification after an arbitration motion was granted, arguing that the court should decide rather than stay a personal jurisdiction motion and clarify whether the defendants in the case may enforce an arbitration agreement under the applicable delegation clause.
June 13, 2023
New York Woman Dismisses Class Suit Over Starbucks’ Biometric Data Collection

NEW YORK — A New York woman who filed a putative class complaint in a federal court in her state accusing Starbucks Corp. of violating New York City law by collecting and sharing biometric identifier information of all customers who enter the marketplace or lounge seating areas of the Starbucks-Amazon Go stores filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice.
June 12, 2023
Amazon, FTC Settle Child Privacy Violations Suit For $25 Million

SEATTLE — The same day that the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint in Washington federal court against Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon.com Services LLC (Amazon, collectively) for violations of federal child privacy and consumer laws, the commission also filed a consent motion for entry of a stipulated order by which the online retailer will, among other things, pay $25 million to settle the claims related to its Alexa digital assistant.
June 09, 2023
$2.35M Dickey’s Barbecue Data Breach Class Settlement Granted Final Approval

DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas granted final approval of a $2.35 million nonreversionary settlement to be paid by Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. to end several consolidated data breach class complaints.
June 08, 2023
Supreme Court: Identity Theft Occurs When ID Use Is ‘At The Crux’ Of Criminal Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Violation of the federal aggravated identity theft statute happens when the unauthorized use of another person’s means of identification “is at the crux of what makes the conduct” at issue criminal, a U.S. Supreme Court majority ruled June 8, reversing a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling in the context of health care fraud and stressing that a broader interpretation of identity theft would transform “garden-variety overbilling” disputes that include the use of a patient’s identifying information into identity theft violations.
May 25, 2023
Indiana’s Suit Over TikTok’s Purported Data Sharing Sent Back To State Court

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — TikTok Inc. failed to establish that federal question jurisdiction exists in a lawsuit brought against it by the state of Indiana over the alleged sharing of the personal data of its social network users with the Chinese government, an Indiana federal judge ruled, holding that a claim against TikTok under a state consumer law does not require decisions about any federal issues, leading her to remand the case to state court.
May 25, 2023
Panel: Insured Fails To Show That Insurer’s Phone Recording Was Surreptitious

CHICAGO — An Illinois appeals court concluded May 24 that a bakery and catering company insured failed to allege facts to support its argument that a commercial general liability insurer’s recording of a phone conversation between a claim representative and the insured’s attorney was surreptitious, affirming a lower court’s dismissal of the insured’s lawsuit alleging that the insurer violated Illinois Eavesdropping Statute.
May 25, 2023
Parties In Meta Pixel Privacy Suit Told To Confer, Agree On ESI Preservation

SAN FRANCISCO — In a March 10 motion, Meta Platforms Inc. asks a California federal court to relate an 11th case with 10 already related cases in which patients of various hospitals and medical facilities have brought suit against the Facebook operator for purportedly installing its Pixel tool on the health care facilities’ respective online patient portals, thereby allowing it to surreptitiously collect patients’ protected health information (PHI).
May 22, 2023
4th Amendment Question Over Pole Camera Surveillance Rejected By Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Massachusetts woman whose home was the subject of an eight-month surveillance by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) saw her petition for certiorari denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 22, leaving unanswered her question on whether such long-term surveillance via a pole camera violated her rights under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
May 22, 2023
Twitter Denied Rehearing Bid In 9th Circuit Appeal Over FBI Surveillance Report

SEATTLE — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals won’t rehear en banc its ruling that the Federal Bureau of Investigation properly invoked national security concerns when it prevented Twitter Inc. from publicizing a report on its involvement in government surveillance activities, thus permitting a panel ruling from March to stand.
May 12, 2023
Taco Bell Worker’s Biometric Data Collection Class Suit Ordered To Arbitration

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A federal judge in Illinois granted a restaurant service group and its related entities’ motion for arbitration in a putative class complaint by a Taco Bell employee who alleges that workers’ biometric data is collected, used and stored in violation of Illinois law, finding that the employee herself argued that the signatory to the arbitration agreement, a nonparty to the suit, has an agency relationship with the defendants.
May 05, 2023
Class Suit Accuses Starbucks Of Violating New York City Biometric Collection Law

NEW YORK — Starbucks Corp. violates New York City’s “Biometric Identifier Information Law” by collecting and sharing the biometric identifier information of all customers who enter the marketplace or lounge seating areas of the Starbucks-Amazon Go stores, a New York woman alleges in her class complaint filed in a federal court in New York on May 4.
May 05, 2023
Alexa Users Denied Bid To Amend Amazon Voice Data Collection Suit

SEATTLE — A putative class complaint alleging state and common-law claims against Amazon.com Inc. for its use of customer data collected via its Alexa digital assistant products in targeted ads will not be amended, a Washington federal judge ruled, denying the lead plaintiffs’ amendment motion that was filed in the wake of a dismissal ruling.
May 04, 2023
Employer, Employee Reach Undisclosed Settlement In Searched Texts Case

PHILADELPHIA — An employer and an employee who sued alleging that his personal text messages dating back more than a year were searched by his employer before his firing filed a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice in a federal court in Pennsylvania after reaching an undisclosed settlement.