On October 17, the District of Massachusetts added to the growing line of federal courts that have held a mere data breach, without additional harm, is insufficient to grant customers Article III standing. See Webb v. Injured Workers Pharmacy, LLC, 2022 WL 10483751, at *1 (D. Mass. Oct. 17, 2022). In February 2022, a home delivery pharmacy notified over 75,000 affected customers that hackers broke through its defenses and accessed patients’ personal data. Two of these customers filed a putative class action against the pharmacy, alleging various tort and contract theories. The court dismissed their claims for lack of standing, holding that plaintiffs had failed to allege any actionable harm stemming from the data breach despite their allegations that the breach caused them significant emotional harm.
Continue Reading Data Breach, Without Allegations of Misuse, Isn’t Enough for Article III Standing