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

Mealey's Data Privacy

June 11, 2025
Revised, Reduced Attorney Fees Award In CPK Data Breach Suit Approved

SANTA ANA, Calif. — After an initial attorney fees award of $800,000 was rejected and remanded by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a consolidated class action over a data breach experienced by California Pizza Kitchen Inc. (CPK), a California federal judge on June 10 approved a revised fees and costs request, which reduces the original award by more than $500,000.
June 11, 2025
Some Privacy Claims Over Google’s Collection Of Health Data May Proceed

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of anonymous plaintiffs suing Google LLC over the alleged collection and sharing of users’ health-related data saw most of their privacy and related claims survive the tech company’s second dismissal motion, with a California federal judge finding that in the second amended consolidated complaint (SAC) the plaintiffs corrected defects that led to their previous complaint being completely dismissed.
June 10, 2025
Magistrate Approves $7.25M Settlement Of Patreon Privacy Violation Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge granted a motion for final approval of a $7.25 million settlement to resolve claims that Patreon Inc. illegally shared its users’ video-viewing data with social media company Meta Platforms Inc., including more than $2.1 million in attorney fees, and rejected as invalid more than 900 opt-outs filed on behalf of class members by a third-party “recovery company.”
June 10, 2025
1 Plaintiff, 1 Claim Remain In Marsh & McLennan Data Breach Class Action

NEW YORK — After two dismissal rulings, discovery, an appeal, a class representative substitution and choice-of-law disputes, a 4-year-old putative class action over a 2021 data breach experienced by Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. has just a single remaining claim for breach of implied contract in a second amended complaint (SAC) that was filed at the direction of a New York federal judge after the most recent ruling.
June 10, 2025
Emotional Distress Claim Over Hacked Apple Account Again Survives Dismissal

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A user of Apple Inc. devices and iCloud service sufficiently alleged that the company’s failure to rectify flaws in its recovery key reset process contributed to permitting hackers to gain access to his personal data and files, a California federal judge found, denying the tech company’s motion to dismiss a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
June 09, 2025
Split U.S. Supreme Court Resumes DOGE Access To SSA Records

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Supreme Court majority on June 6 concluded that the Social Security Administration (SSA) must again provide access to agency records to a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) SSA team, staying a preliminary injunction issued in April by a federal judge in Maryland.
June 06, 2025
4th Circuit Again Decertifies Marriott Data Breach Classes Without Another Remand

RICHMOND, Va. — Almost two years after it decertified several classes for claims against Marriott International Inc. and its information technology provider related to a massive data breach, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel again decertified the same classes, finding them to be barred under a class action waiver that was part of the hotel chain’s contract with customers.
June 05, 2025
Mass. High Court: Police Review Of Indictee’s GPS Data Didn’t Violate Privacy

BOSTON — Law enforcement’s use of GPS data, from a man being monitored pursuant to a pretrial release agreement, to connect him with a subsequent crime did not violate his constitutional rights, a unanimous Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held June 4, because the man had no expectation of privacy in the data collection to which he had consented.
June 05, 2025
$525,000 Settlement Of Data Breach Suit Against Property Manager Gets Initial OK

NEW ORLEANS — A proposed agreement that would settle putative class claims brought by a former tenant against a property manager over a 2021 data breach that he says exposed his personally identifiable information (PII) received preliminary approval from a Louisiana federal judge, who deemed the $525,000 settlement fund to be “within the range of what is reasonable.”
June 04, 2025
Wiretapping, Data-Sharing Claims Against Eyewear Website Dismissed For Second Time

DALLAS — Almost eight months after a Texas federal judge dismissed a putative class action alleging that an eyewear retailer’s website was sharing customers’ private health information (PHI) with Meta Platforms Inc., the judge dismissed an amended complaint, finding that the plaintiffs still failed to allege that any PHI, in the form of eyewear prescriptions, was among the data that was shared.
June 03, 2025
Judge Limits Certain Expert Testimony In Data Collection Case Against Google

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on June 2 ruled on competing motions to exclude expert testimony in a case against Google LLC over data collection, finding that certain testimony is inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
June 03, 2025
Dismissal Of BIPA Suit Denied; Amendment Limiting Damages Is Not Retroactive

CHICAGO — An August 2024 amendment to the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) that limits the amount of damages an individual may recover was a change rather than a clarification and was not retroactive, a federal judge in that state ruled, denying a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction filed by the operators of medical facilities accused by employees of collecting and storing their information.
June 03, 2025
IRS Opposes Bitcoin Owner’s Certiorari Bid Over Financial Records Summons

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Touting its investigative powers, the Internal Revenue Service filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, opposing a petition for certiorari from a man whose financial records were seized from a cryptocurrency exchange via a judicially issued summons, arguing that there was no violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because the petitioner had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the seized documents.
May 30, 2025
Ex-Employees’ Claims Over Duty-Free Shops’ Data Breach Partly Survive Dismissal

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — Negligence and breach of implied contracts brought by two former employees against the operators of airport duty-free shops may proceed, a New York federal judge ruled, while dismissing unjust enrichment and fiduciary duty claims related to a 2023 data breach.
May 30, 2025
Judgment Partly Granted To Meta, App Maker In Ovulation App Privacy Class Action

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge delivered a mixed summary judgment ruling to Meta Platforms Inc. and Flo Health Inc., as he partly dismissed privacy and consumer protection claims in a class action over allegations that users’ personally identifiable information (PII) was shared when they used the Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app.
May 29, 2025
Judge Modifies, But Won’t Dissolve, Injunction Over DOGE Access To Treasury Data

NEW YORK — A preliminary injunction that originally prevented the U.S. Department of the Treasury from granting access to its data and payment systems to anyone affiliated with the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was modified by a New York federal judge to permit access to DOGE team members who have been properly vetted and trained and to specifically grant access to four DOGE team members who have satisfied these conditions.
May 29, 2025
Ex-Employee’s Beef With Meatpacker’s Data Breach Response Sent To Arbitration

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Finding a beef producer’s arbitration agreement to be binding on a former employee that sued the company over a 2024 data breach, a Georgia federal judge directed the plaintiff to submit her putative negligence and breach of contract class claims to an arbitrator.
May 29, 2025
Final OK Given To $3.25 Million Settlement Of Class Action Over USAA Data Breach

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — An almost 4-year-old suit over a 2021 data breach experienced by United Services Automobile Association (USAA) was resolved when a New York federal judge approved a $3.25 million settlement between the insurance company and a lone lead plaintiff, disposing of claims including negligence and violation of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA).
May 28, 2025
Judge Dismisses Trump, Not Musk Or DOGE, From States’ Appointments Clause Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Granting in part a motion to dismiss filed by President Donald J. Trump, Elon Musk and the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a District of Columbia federal judge on May 27 dismissed appointments clause and ultra vires claims against the president because the court was not permitted to issue an injunction against the president related to his official duties.
May 28, 2025
7th Circuit Refuses To Reconsider Ruling In Coverage Dispute Over BIPA Violations

CHICAGO —The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals declined a commercial liability insurer’s invitation to reconsider its opinion that vacated and remanded a lower court’s ruling in favor of the insurer in its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying putative class action alleging that a food ingredient manufacturer insured violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
May 28, 2025
Golden Corral, Employees Settle Data Breach Class Action For $1.85 Million

RALEIGH, N.C. — A $1.85 million settlement of class claims over a 2013 data breach experienced by Golden Corral Corp. received final approval from a North Carolina federal judge, who deemed the restaurant chain’s agreement with a class of employees whose personally identifiable information (PII) was compromised in the breach to be “fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the” class.
May 28, 2025
Nonprofits Appeal Injunction Denial Over IRS Sharing Of Taxpayer Data With DHS

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four nonprofit immigrant rights organizations filed a notice of appeal in District of Columbia federal court after a judge denied their motion to temporarily enjoin the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury from sharing private taxpayer information with the Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of enforcing criminal immigration proceedings.
May 28, 2025
Doctor Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Arising From Alleged Hidden Cameras

NEW YORK — A doctor insured filed a notice of appeal asking the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review a lower federal court’s dismissal of her breach of contract lawsuit seeking business interruption and umbrella coverage for her losses arising from discovery of hidden cameras at her dermatology office.
May 27, 2025
OpenAI: ChatGPT Output Preservation ‘Unprecedented’ Privacy Violation

SAN FRANCISCO — Requiring preservation of ChatGPT outputs users wish to delete simply so news plaintiffs in a copyright suit can secure a litigation advantage constitutes an “unprecedented” privacy violation and sets a “dangerous precedent,” OpenAI entities tell a federal court in California in a May 23 supplemental opposition after a magistrate judge ordered the preservation and denied a motion for reconsideration.
May 23, 2025
U.S. Supreme Court Briefs Debate Injunction Stay Request In SSA Records Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Discretionary review by the U.S. Supreme Court of an injunction in a case over Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to Social Security Administration (SSA) data is not necessary as the application by the SSA and other federal government agencies and officials fails to “present a question meriting” high court review, a union and two groups argue in their opposition; however, the federal government parties write in their reply that the groups lack standing and their claims will fail on the merits.