Last year, we noted that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari in a case that could limit the ability of plaintiffs to sue defendants over bare statutory violations without the showing of actual injury. The case implicates a wide variety of statutes that grant monetary awards to successful plaintiffs on
litigation
Appeals Court Agrees That Health Solutions Provider’s Insurance Requires Defense in Data Disclosure Class Action
Availability of insurance is often among the first questions that arises when a company encounters a data breach or other Internet-related problem involving company records, even where the company lacks a cyberinsurance policy. The federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a ruling by a District Court that required insurance coverage for an inadvertent…
New York Appellate Court Rules That Facebook Cannot Bring a Pre-Execution Challenge to a Search Warrant for Its Customers’ Records
On July 21, 2015, the First Department of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, ruled that Facebook could not bring a pre-execution challenge judicially issued search warrants for records associated with customer Facebook accounts on behalf of its customers. In In Re 381 Search Warrants Directed to Facebook Inc., 2015 NY Slip Op…
Is Your Device ID “Personal”? Federal Appeals Court to Decide Under VPPA
A federal appellate court will consider early next month whether the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) makes an “Android ID” – a device identifier used in Google’s smartphones –personally identifiable information (PII). The Eleventh Circuit has scheduled oral argument in the case, Ellis v. Cartoon Network, Inc., for June 3, 2015.
The plaintiff in…
Smart Customer Service Is Smart Risk Management
We were recently reminded that a company’s customer interface is, at times, part of the risk management process. Handled smartly and risk can be minimized; handled poorly and a class action lawsuit can result.
According to a class action lawsuit currently in federal court, a customer called customer service to complain of damage to his…
Privacy Class Action Claims on the Rise
From the allegations of Edward Snowden about official snooping on U.S. citizens (and non-Americans worldwide) to any of the seemingly innumerable data breaches hitting retailers like Home Depot and Target or movie/television studio Sony or pick-your-favorite-example, it’s rare that a day passes without some breaking news about privacy (or its sibling, cybersecurity).
Think of the…