Mealey's Data Privacy : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Data Privacy

August 25, 2022
Final Approval Sought For Settlement Of Google Cookie Privacy Class Action

WILMINGTON, Del. — The remaining lead plaintiffs in an 11-year old consolidated class action over purported privacy violations associated with Google LLC’s use of cookies moved for final approval of a revised $5.5 million settlement in Delaware federal court on Aug. 8, arguing that the cy pres-only settlement confers substantial benefits on class members that are superior to continuing to pursue litigation with an uncertain outcome.
August 24, 2022
In Maine Privacy Law Row, Judge Permits 1 Expert, Reserves Judgment On 2 Others

BANGOR, Maine — Addressing three motions to exclude expert testimony in a lawsuit over the enactment of a Maine privacy statute, a Maine federal judge on Aug. 18 denied exclusion of a witness retained by the state’s attorney general (AG) to be qualified and offering relevant testimony on whether the law’s regulation of the speech of internet service providers (ISPs) runs afoul of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
August 24, 2022
Google, Plaintiffs Defend Cy Pres Settlement Of Street View Suit To Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In briefs filed Aug. 22, Google LLC and a group of internet users that sued it for privacy violations over the Google Street View feature both defend the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ approval of a $13 million cy pres-only settlement, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to deny a settlement objector’s petition for certiorari because such settlements are uniformly accepted by courts when it is not feasible to distribute funds to a large class.
August 23, 2022
3 Claims Trimmed From MDL Over Health Care Provider’s Data Breach

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Three months after he dismissed most of the putative class claims in a multidistrict litigation over a 2020 data breach experienced by Mednax Services Inc., a Florida federal judge on Aug. 18 dismissed with prejudice Virginia, Missouri and New York state law claims in response to the defendant’s motion.
August 19, 2022
Complaint: LexisNexis Sells, Collects, Aggregates Personal Data Without Consent

CHICAGO — A group of plaintiffs who are critical of U.S. immigration law filed a complaint against LexisNexis Risk Solutions in Illinois court on Aug. 16, claiming that the data aggregator “earns billions of dollars” annually “by collecting and aggregating sensitive personal data from U.S. consumers” in violation of Illinois law, resulting in the creation of “a massive surveillance state” by, among other things, supplying personal data to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
August 17, 2022
Moving Company Will Pay $1.45M To End Class Suit Alleging Calls Were Recorded

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California on Aug. 8 granted final approval of a $1.45 million class settlement reached between a moving company and a prospective customer who alleged that his phone calls to discuss the details of his move were recorded without his consent.
August 17, 2022
Exclusion Bars Employment Practices Liability Coverage For BIPA Suit, Judge Rules

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on Aug. 11 held that an employment practices liability insurance policy’s “violation of laws applicable to employers” exclusion bars coverage for an underlying lawsuit alleging that the insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), granting the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
August 16, 2022
Judge Holds All Deadlines In Abeyance In Coverage Dispute With Funeral Home

LEXINGTON, Ky. — One day after a funeral home insured and its insurer filed a joint status report indicating that underlying settlements have been reached for claims that the insured placed electronic devices that captured and transmitted video images of individuals using the men’s restroom at the funeral home, a federal judge in Kentucky on Aug. 11 issued an order holding all deadlines in abeyance in the insurer’s declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for the underlying claims.
August 15, 2022
7th Circuit Upholds Ruling For DOL In Subpoena Row Involving ERISA

CHICAGO — The investigatory authority of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “hinges on the information requested and its relation to an actual or potential ERISA violation,” a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Aug. 12, upholding enforcement of an administrative subpoena issued against an entity that argued that it is not a fiduciary.
August 15, 2022
Negligence Suit Over DMV Vendor’s Data Breach Dismissed For Lack Of Standing

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Two Connecticut citizens whose personally identifiable information (PII) was exposed in a data breach experienced by a vendor of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) did not allege an injury in fact sufficient to confer standing, a Connecticut federal judge ruled Aug. 9, dismissing the putative class claims against the defendant.
August 12, 2022
Vizio Seeks 9th Circuit Review Of Coverage Dispute Over Smart TV Litigation Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Vizio Inc. on Aug. 10 filed a notice of appeal in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging a lower federal court’s dismissal of its fourth amended complaint seeking defense and indemnity for an underlying $17 million settlement and defense costs arising from class claims over the insured’s unauthorized collections of consumers’ television viewing data.
July 28, 2022
Hearing Scheduled For Stay Motion In Cryptocurrency Data Phishing Attack Suit

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on July 25 set a hearing date for an e-commerce solutions firm’s motion to stay a negligence lawsuit against it over the theft of customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) from a cryptocurrency ledger website.
July 27, 2022
Judge Won’t Reconsider Jurisdiction, Standing Ruling In Clearview Biometric Suit

CHICAGO — Clearview AI Inc. lost its bid for reconsideration of a judge’s findings regarding jurisdiction and standing that favored the plaintiffs in a biometrics privacy suit, with the judge ruling on July 25 that the defendant’s arguments were unavailing and “woefully inadequate,” leading her to deny reconsideration, which she reminded the parties is not “a vehicle for rearguing previously rejected motions.”
July 26, 2022
Teenager, Mom Say Meta Violated UCL By Causing Anorexia, Depression

SAN FRANCISCO — A teen girl and her mother on July 25 filed a lawsuit in California federal court against Meta Platforms Inc. alleging that it violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by using “addictive” algorithms on its Instagram social media app that led the teenager to develop anorexia and other chronic health issues.
July 26, 2022
Airline, Ex-Employee Reach ‘Settlement In Principle’ Of Biometric Data Class Claim

CHICAGO — In a July 25 status report, Envoy Air Inc. and a former employee announced that they have “reached a settlement in principle” of the employee’s putative class complaint alleging violations of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) in the collection of workers’ biometric data in the airline’s clock-in and clock-out procedure.
July 25, 2022
Initial Approval Sought For $350 Million Settlement Of T-Mobile Data Breach MDL

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The plaintiffs in a multidistrict litigation over the August 2021 data breach experienced by T-Mobile US Inc. and T-Mobile USA Inc. (T-Mobile, collectively) moved in Missouri federal court on July 22 for preliminary approval of a settlement agreement that will establish a $350 settlement fund for class members and require the telecommunications firm to undertake security improvements.
July 20, 2022
Vizio Fails To Plead Coverage Suit After 5 Opportunities, Judge Says In Dismissal

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California on July 19 granted an excess insurer’s motion to dismiss Vizio Inc.’s fourth amended complaint seeking defense and indemnity for an underlying $17 million settlement and defense costs arising from class claims over the insured’s unauthorized collections of consumers’ television viewing data, dismissing the claims this time with prejudice after finding that the insured “again fails to state a claim after having had five opportunities to properly plead its case.”
July 20, 2022
Defendants In Cryptocurrency Data Breach Suit Urge Dismissal, Arbitration

SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of reply briefs filed July 15 in California federal court, a cryptocurrency exchange and a retirement solutions firm offer further arguments supporting their respective motions to compel arbitration and to dismiss negligence and contractual putative class claims brought against them by a client whose bitcoin assets and personally identifiable information (PII) and were stolen in a cyberattack.
July 20, 2022
Judge Dismisses Putative UCL Class Claim Against Google For Data Monitoring

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on July 18 denied two plaintiffs’ claims that Google LLC violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and violated their privacy by allegedly collecting data about their usage of non-Google apps while using Google’s Android operating system on their smartphones as the claims were all insufficiently pleaded despite the judge finding that Google failed to fully disclose its data collection policies.
July 14, 2022
Names Added To Maine Vaccine Complaint After 1st Circuit Panel Denies Stay

BANGOR, Maine — Maine health care workers who as Does sued their employers and several state officials challenging the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate filed an amended complaint on July 11 in a federal court in Maine revealing their names after the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 7 denied their request for an emergency stay of the trial court’s disclosure order.
July 12, 2022
Wawa Data Breach Settlement Objectors Must Post $10,000 Bond For 3rd Circuit Appeal

PHILADELPHIA — Agreeing with a track of consumer plaintiffs in a consolidated class action over a 2019 data breach experienced by Wawa Inc., a Pennsylvania federal judge on July 8 granted a motion to require two of the convenience store chain’s employees to post an appeal bond during the pendency of their appeal of Wawa’s settlement with the consumer track.
July 07, 2022
Muslim Americans Tell 9th Circuit No Privileged Info Needed To Pursue Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A trial court improperly dismissed their religious discrimination claims over government surveillance of their communities, three Muslim Americans tell the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a June 30 supplemental remand brief, saying that the trial court incorrectly concluded that they could not plead their claims without information protected under the state secrets privilege and stressing that they seek no discovery of such materials.
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.