privacy

The California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) provides a private right of action only to those who have “been injured by a violation of” CIPA.  A California Superior Court decision, Rodriguez v. Fountain9, Inc., 2024 WL 3886811, at *4 (Cal. Super. July 9, 2024), confirmed that a plaintiff cannot satisfy this statutory standing requirement unless the plaintiff alleges “a concrete injury-in-fact.”Continue Reading California State Court Holds That A Concrete Injury-In-Fact Is Required To Bring Claims Under CIPA

A Central District of California court recently dismissed a putative privacy class action after determining that the movie theater defendants were not Video Tape Service Providers as defined by the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”).  See Walsh v. California Cinema Investments LLC, 2024 WL 3593569 (C.D. Cal. July 29, 2024).  Two other California federal courts recently have reached similar conclusions, and appeals of those rulings are currently pending before the Ninth Circuit.  See Garza v. Alamo Intermediate II Holdings, LLC, 2024 WL 1171737, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 19, 2024); Osheske v. Silver Cinemas Acquisition Co., 700 F. Supp. 3d 921 (C.D. Cal. 2023).Continue Reading Another California Federal Court Rules Movie Theater Is Not “Video Tape Service Provider” Under the VPPA.

On August 6, 2024, Judge Jorge L. Alonso of the Northern District of Illinois issued an order dismissing Brantley v. Prisma Labs, Inc., a proposed class action suit against the creator of the “Magic Avatar” AI app for lack of standing and lack of personal jurisdiction over the representative plaintiff Tyrone Brantley.Continue Reading Judge Makes Class Action Claims Against “Magic Avatar” AI App Disappear

A recent Seventh Circuit decision, Wallrich v. Samsung Elecs. Am., Inc., — F.4th —-, 2024 WL 3249646 (7th Cir. July 1, 2024), will be of interest to companies facing mass arbitration demands.Continue Reading Seventh Circuit Reverses Order Compelling Payment of Mass Arbitration Fees

Earlier this year, we covered the dismissal of a putative class action asserting Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) claims against the operators of a Texas Longhorns email newsletter. A judge in the Western District of Texas has now dismissed those claims, along with a newly asserted Wiretap Act claim, with prejudice. See Brown v. Learfield Commc’ns, LLC, 2024 WL 1477636 (W.D. Tex. June 27, 2024).  Continue Reading District Court Again Rejects VPPA, Wiretap Claims Against University Newsletter Service

An Ohio federal district court recently dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction a class action complaint asserting claims arising from a data breach experienced by defendant Associated Materials, LLC.  See Marlin v. Associated Materials, LLC, 2024 WL 2319115 (N.D. Ohio May 22, 2024).Continue Reading Ohio Federal Court Dismisses Data Breach Lawsuit for Lack of Article III Standing

A federal judge in the Western District of Washington recently dismissed a class action complaint accusing Overlake Hospital Medical Center of unlawfully disclosing the health data of patients who accessed its websites to third parties.  See Nienaber v. Overlake Hosp. Med. Ctr., 2024 WL 2133709 (W.D. Wash. May 13, 2024).  Plaintiff Jacq Nienaber, an Overlake patient, alleged that the hospital shared her private data with Meta and other third parties through the use of the Meta Pixel and Meta’s Conversions Application Programming Interface on its public website and private patient portal. Continue Reading Washington Federal Court Dismisses Privacy Claims Involving Hospital Website

An Illinois federal district court recently dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction a publicity privacy suit against Geneanet, which the complaint alleges is a French subsidiary of Ancestry.com that owns and operates an interactive genealogy website. See Shebesh v. Geneanet, S.A., No. 23-cv-4195 (N.D. Ill. May 3, 2024). Plaintiff Ethan Shebesh sued on behalf of himself and a putative class under the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, which prevents the use of an individual’s identity for a commercial purpose without the individual’s consent. 765 ILCS 1075/30(a). Shebesh asserted that Geneanet unlawfully used his and the putative class members’ names and other identifying information to advertise and sell premium memberships. Concluding that the plaintiff failed to show that Geneanet intentionally directed its conduct at Illinois, the court granted Geneanet’s motion to dismiss.Continue Reading Illinois Federal Court Dismisses Publicity Privacy Suit Against French Genealogy Site for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction

Courts have recently been grappling with an influx of class actions alleging that company websites are in violation of wiretapping and other privacy laws when using third-party technology to provide services on their websites.  Three different federal courts recently dismissed cases on similar grounds, demonstrating the challenges plaintiffs face with maintaining them and strategies defendants should keep in mind to defeat them. 

Two of the cases accuse healthcare providers of improperly sharing personal health information with third-party technology companies through the use of pixel technologies on the healthcare provider’s website.  In the first case, Doe v. Davita, Inc., plaintiffs accused Davita—a kidney dialysis provider—of violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) and other laws by purportedly collecting “patients’ personal and sensitive medical information on the Online Platforms and … improperly shar[ing] [this information] with the Tracking Technologies without patients’ consent.”  2024 WL 1772854, at *2 (S.D. Cal. April 24, 2024).  The court disagreed and dismissed the claims, holding that plaintiffs did “not explain what specific information they provided to Defendant” and calling their claims “conclusory.”  Id.  The complaint, said the court, was “devoid of any facts supporting” plaintiffs’ contentions that Davita disclosed “personal, confidential, and sensitive medical information; medical treatment; and payment information” with the third party.  Id. Continue Reading Lack of Plaintiff-Specific Allegations Dooms California, Pennsylvania Privacy-Based Class Actions

A district court judge in the Northern District of California recently denied class certification in a putative privacy class action against Google and its Real Time Bidding (“RTB”) advertising system. Plaintiffs moved to certify both damages and injunctive relief classes based on allegations that Google shared personal information through its RTB system. The court denied with prejudice certification under Rule 23(b)(3), finding that individual questions about class member’s past consent to—and subjective understanding of—Google’s disclosures would predominate. The district court also denied the proposed injunctive relief class on the grounds that the proposed class definition was “fail-safe” and that plaintiffs had not met their burden to prove that their data was representative of the proposed class, but the court did so with leave to amend and requested further briefing. Plaintiffs subsequently petitioned for leave to appeal the denial to the Ninth Circuit.Continue Reading Affirmative Defense of Consent Leads to 23(b)(3) Class Certification Denial in Google Ad Bidding Privacy Litigation