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Mealey's Data Privacy

November 17, 2022
$2.35M Dickey’s Barbecue Data Breach Class Settlement Preliminarily Approved

DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas adopted a magistrate judge’s findings and recommendations and preliminarily approved a $2.35 million all-cash, nonreversionary settlement by Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants Inc. to end several consolidated data breach class complaints.
November 16, 2022
Massachusetts Agency Sued For Secret Installations Of Contact-Tracing App

BOSTON — Two owners of smartphones using the Android operating system filed a putative class action against the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), alleging constitutional, federal and state law violations for the installation of a contract-tracing app on more than 1 million Android apps “without users’ permission or awareness” as part of the state’s efforts to combat COVID-19.
November 15, 2022
Final OK Given To $90 Million Settlement Of Meta Online Tracking Class Action

SAN FRANCISCO — Seven months after he granted preliminary approval in a more than decade-old consolidated class action against Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.), a California federal judge granted final approval to the $90 million settlement of the “hard fought” suit over Meta’s purported tracking of Facebook users’ online activity.
November 11, 2022
Supreme Court To Consider Scope Of Federal Identity Theft Statute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Nov. 10 miscellaneous order, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to a psychologist who was convicted under the federal aggravated identity theft statute, agreeing to take up his question of what constitutes “use” of another person’s name or identifying information.
November 11, 2022
Amazon Must Provide Alexa Recordings, Transcripts In Eavesdropping Lawsuit

SEATTLE — In a pair of orders, a Washington federal judge largely granted two motions to compel Amazon.com Inc. to provide documents and responses to discovery requests by a group of consumers alleging that the company’s Alexa devices violate state and federal wiretap statutes by recording conversations not directed to one of the smart speaker devices.
November 10, 2022
Biometric Suit Over Estée Lauder’s ‘Try It On’ Web Feature Partly Dismissed

CHICAGO — A woman who used a virtual makeup application tool on a website owned by Estée Lauder Companies Inc. sufficiently alleged a negligent violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by the collection of users’ facial geometry, an Illinois federal judge ruled, while also dismissing the plaintiff’s putative class claim of intentional and reckless conduct as inadequately pleaded.
November 09, 2022
Nonprofit, DHS Close To Resolving FOIA Suit Over Immigrant DNA Testing

SAN FRANCISCO — At the request of Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a California federal judge entered an order setting a Dec. 5 deadline for the parties to seek dismissal or attorney fees in a lawsuit over EFF’s request for records on the DNA testing of immigrants, per the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), in which the parties claim to have “resolved the substantive issues.”
November 07, 2022
Federal Judge Awards Insured $147,926 In Coverage Suit Over ‘Bad Actor’ Data Breach

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A $147,926.21 judgment was entered in favor of a technical consulting and software development company insured on Nov. 4, one day after a federal judge in Minnesota granted its motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit seeking coverage under a technology professional insurance policy “Cyber Business Interruption and Extra Expense” clause for its losses arising from a data breach perpetuated by a “bad actor.”
November 03, 2022
Claims Over Accounting Firm’s Data Breach Dismissed By Judge

OAKLAND, Calif. — Although a plaintiff established standing to bring putative class claims against an accounting firm for the purported exposure of her personally identifiable information (PII) from a data breach, a California federal judge on Nov. 2 found that the plaintiff did not sufficiently plead her claims, thus meriting dismissal.
November 01, 2022
Settlement Preliminarily Approved In COVID-19 Contact Tracing Data Breach Case

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania preliminarily approved a class settlement under which an employment staffing company accused of failing to safeguard private health information (PHI) contained in Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 contact tracing lists and failing to timely notify those affected by the breach agreed to provide monetary payments for out-of-pocket expenses and two years of credit monitoring and credit restoration protections.
October 31, 2022
U.S. High Court Won’t Hear Appeal Over Review Of DOL Secretary’s FECA Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 31 denied a petition by a corrections officer challenging a determination by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) secretary that his claims following alleged release of his personal data are covered by the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) can’t be reviewed by a federal court.
October 27, 2022
Class Granted Final Approval For Settlement Of Meta’s Call, Text Data Scraping

SAN FRANCISCO — Two and a half months after he granted preliminary approval to the settlement of a consolidated class action over call and text data-scraping activities performed by Meta Platforms Inc. (formerly Facebook Inc.), a California federal judge granted final approval to the agreement, which provides only injunctive and declaratory judgment to the class.
October 27, 2022
9 Suits Over Meta’s Online Tracking Related In California Federal Court

OAKLAND, Calif. — Nine putative class complaints against Meta Platforms Inc. for privacy infractions related to its purported tracking of users’ online activity were related by a California federal judge in accord with a stipulation of the parties.
October 26, 2022
Google Assistant Users Defend Class Certification In Privacy Lawsuit

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The three classes and two subclasses described in their July motion for class certification are “appropriately defined,” a group of Google Assistant (GA) users say in a reply brief filed in California federal court in a lawsuit alleging privacy violations from Google LLC’s purported interception and use of users’ private conversations without their knowledge.
October 25, 2022
Class Settlement Reached In Case Over COVID-19 Contact Tracing Data Breach

HARRISBURG, Pa. — An employment staffing company accused of failing to safeguard private health information (PHI) contained in Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 contact tracing lists and failing to timely notify those affected by the breach agreed to provide monetary payments for out-of-pocket expenses and two years of credit monitoring and credit restoration protections, according to a class settlement agreement presented to a federal court in Pennsylvania for preliminary approval.
October 25, 2022
2 More Wiretap Lawsuits Over Meta Pixel Related In California Federal Court

SAN FRANCISCO — With his most recent ruling, a California federal judge has related six lawsuits against Meta Platforms Inc. in which the plaintiffs claim that the operator of the Facebook social network uses its Pixel product to intercept the personal information of patients who use computers and other devices at hospitals and medical facilities (In re Meta Pixel Healthcare Litigation, No. 22-3580, N.D. Calif.).
October 24, 2022
Hospital Data Theft Plaintiffs Lack Standing, Judge Says, Remanding To State Court

TOPEKA, Kan. — Three plaintiffs who filed a putative class complaint in the wake of a hospital’s data breach lack standing to sue due to their failure to plead any concrete injuries-in-fact that can be traced to the incident, a Kansas federal judge found.
October 24, 2022
Arbitration Compelled In Suits Over Sporting Goods Sites’ Data Breach

LOS ANGELES — The arbitration provision within the terms of use (TOU) of three websites that were the targets of a 2021 data breach is valid and enforceable, a California federal judge ruled, granting the website operators’ motions to compel arbitration and dismissing the lawsuits against them.
October 21, 2022
In Revised Ruling, 3rd Circuit Maintains Pa. Wiretap Law Lacks Direct Party Exception

PHILADELPHIA — Reaffirming a two-month-old ruling over claimed interception of consumers’ data from the website of Harriet Carter Gifts Inc. by a marketing business partner, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a revised opinion in a putative class action over what constitutes interception under a Pennsylvania wiretap statute, stressing the importance of a party’s consent in a determination of whether a third party can be found liable for interception.
October 14, 2022
Magistrate Judge Denies Some Claims In UCL Suit Claiming Patreon Shares User Data

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge on Oct. 13 dismissed putative class claims that the Patreon Inc. website illegally shares its users’ video-viewing data with the Facebook social media site through the users’ Facebook ID after finding that the plaintiffs failed to allege that Patreon violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), but granted leave to amend and allowed other claims to proceed.
October 13, 2022
BNSF Hit With $228 Million Verdict For Intentional, Reckless Biometric Violations

CHICAGO — The same day that a jury concluded that BNSF Railway Co. violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) with its fingerprint scanning practice, an Illinois federal judge on Oct. 12 entered judgment in accordance with the verdict, assessing $228 million against the railway company for more than 45,000 violations of the statute.
October 13, 2022
FBI, Agents To 9th Circuit: State Secrets Privilege Bars Muslim Surveillance Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of supplemental briefs filed on remand after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a group of FBI agents ask the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court’s dismissal of religious discrimination and other constitutional claims alleged in connection with the bureau’s surveillance of domestic Muslim communities, arguing that the state secrets privilege defeats such claims.
October 10, 2022
11th Circuit Panel Lifts Block Of Florida Ban On Requiring Vaccine Documentation

ATLANTA — A split panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated a preliminary injunction granted by a Florida federal court enjoining the state surgeon general from enforcing a statutory ban on businesses requiring customers to provide documentation of COVID-19 vaccination, holding that the statute is a regulation of economic conduct that only incidentally burdens free speech and does not implicate the First Amendment and that Florida’s interests in protecting its residents from discrimination and invasions of privacy outweigh any burdens on interstate commerce imposed by the statute.
October 07, 2022
Amici Support Wikimedia In Supreme Court Appeal Over Upstream Surveillance

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of nonprofits, some former federal judges, and a Georgetown Law professor filed amicus curiae briefs supporting Wikimedia Foundation in its lawsuit against the National Security Agency (NSA), asking the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure that the government does not improperly wield the state secrets privilege to improperly evade judicial review of its surveillance activities.
October 04, 2022
Google Street View Settlement Objector Denied Certiorari Over Cy Pres Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 3 declined to take up a question about when cy pres settlements are appropriate in class actions, denying certiorari to a man who objected to the $13 million cy pres settlement of a 12-year-old consolidated privacy class action over Google LLC’s Street View feature.