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Art. III Standing

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District Court (NY) Dismisses Data Breach Class Action for Lack of Standing

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Jantzer v. Elizabethtown Cmty. Hosp., No. 8:19-cv-00791 (BKS/DJS), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83207 (N.D.N.Y. May 12, 2020), Judge Sannes dismissed a data breach class action for lack of standing.  The facts were as follows: UVM Health is Vermont Corporation headquartered in Burlington, Vermont that consists of a "six-hospital and home health & hospice system" located in "Vermont and northern… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Tosses Nationwide Data Breach Class Action Due to Lack of Injury in Fact

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Stasi v. Inmediata Health Grp. Corp., No. 19cv2353 JM (LL), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79303, at *1-4 (S.D. Cal. May 5, 2020), Judge Miller dismissed a nationwide identity theft/data breach class action. The facts were as follows: Plaintiffs allege that in January of 2019, Inmediata learned it was experiencing a large "data security incident" resulting in the exposure of… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Says Data Breach Victim Did Not Plead Enough

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Holly v. Alta Newport Hosp., Inc., No. 2:19-cv-07496-ODW (MRWx), 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64104, at *1-3 (C.D. Cal. Apr. 10, 2020), Judge Wright held that a data breach victim, on behalf of a putative class, did not plead enough.    The facts were as follows: On October [*2]  18, 2019, Plaintiff Sallie Holly filed her First Amended Complaint ("FAC"). (FAC,… Read More

9th Cir. Finds that Privacy Statutes Confer Spokeo Standing

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Campbell v. Facebook, Inc., __ F.3d __, 2020 WL 1023350, The Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held that violations of the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510, et seq. (ECPA) and the California Invasion of Privacy Act, Cal. Pen. Code § 630, et seq. (CIPA) are, in and of themselves sufficient, without further allegations… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Certifies Injunctive Data Breach Class Against Facebook, but Denies Certification of Damages Class

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Adkins v. Facebook, Inc., No. C 18-05982-WHA, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 206271 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 26, 2019), Judge Alsup granted in part and denied in part a data breach class. This is a putative class action by plaintiff Stephen Adkins against defendant Facebook, Inc. Plaintiff asserts a claim for negligence based on Facebook's alleged faulty security practices in collecting… Read More

District Court (NY) Says It’s Powerless to Approve Class Settlement Arising Out of Data Breach Due to Lack of Art. III Cognizable Injury

by Scott J. Hyman |

In Steven v. Carlos Lopez & Assocs., No. 18-CV-6500 (JMF), 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 203621 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 22, 2019), Judge Furman declined to  approve settlement of a data breach class due to the absence of Art. III standing. In June 2018, an employee of Defendant Carlos Lopez & Associates, LLC ("CLA"), a provider of mental and behavioral health services to… Read More

District Court (Cal.) Says Facebook Users Held Privacy Rights Despite Putting Personal Information on Social Media

by Scott J. Hyman |

In In re Facebook, Inc., No. MDL No. 2843, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153505 (N.D. Cal. Sep. 9, 2019), Judge Chhabria allowed some claims to proceed against Facebook arising out of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook's motion to dismiss is littered with assumptions about the degree to which social media users can reasonably expect their personal information and communications to… Read More

District Court (Fla.) Says Data Breach Victims Meet Spokeo Art. III Standards

by Scott J. Hyman |

In re Brinker Data Incident Litig., No. 3:18-cv-686-J-32MCR, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128573 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 1, 2019), Judge Corrigan allowed a data-breach class action to proceed.  Hackers accessed Brinker's data network and installed malware on point-of-sale ("POS") systems at many Chili's restaurants, which Brinker owns, develops, operates, and franchises.  Brinker publicly announced the breach on May 12, 2018, stating: ”On May… Read More

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