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

Mealey's Data Privacy

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.
May 22, 2025
Settling FTC Claims, GoDaddy Agrees To Upgrade Security, Halt Misrepresentations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission on May 21 announced a settlement of an agency action against GoDaddy Inc., for having inadequate security for its networks and servers and for misrepresenting the quality of its security, establishing requirements for the webhost to upgrade its network security.
May 22, 2025
Class Mostly Certified In Privacy Suit Alleging Tracking By Ovulation App

SAN FRANCISCO — A group of women in a consolidated suit alleging privacy violations by the creator of the Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app saw their motion for class certification mostly granted by a California federal judge who found that the plaintiffs satisfied the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 “with a few specific, claim-related exceptions.”
May 21, 2025
Insurer Challenges 7th Circuit Ruling In Coverage Dispute Over BIPA Violations

CHICAGO — A commercial liability seeks rehearing of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that vacated and remanded a lower court’s ruling in its favor 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), asking the appeals court to amend and correct its opinion to omit any reference to an underlying settlement and omit its conclusion that the insurer will have a duty to indemnify under a 2015 insurance policy if the insured’s notice of the underlying claim was timely.
May 21, 2025
23andMe Reports Bankruptcy Asset Sale, Suggests Global Settlement Of Privacy Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Two months after a consolidated privacy suit over a breach of 23andMe Inc.’s network was stayed for bankruptcy proceedings, the financially troubled DNA testing company informed a California federal court in a May 20 joint case management statement that “substantially all” of its assets had been purchased in a three-day auction pursuant to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.
May 20, 2025
$6 Million Settlement Of Class Suit Over Union’s Data Breach Gets Final Approval

NEW YORK — Two union members were granted final approval of class negligence and breach of contract claims against a labor union over a 2023 data breach, with a New York federal judge deeming the $6 million settlement to be preferable to the expenses and “uncertainties of continued litigation.”
May 20, 2025
9th Circuit Won’t Rehear State Secrets Dispute In Suit Over Muslim Surveillance

SAN FRANCISCO — The FBI was denied its bid for en banc rehearing of a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruling that established a new procedure for courts to consider information covered by the state secrets privilege rather than simply excluding all such information from a lawsuit alleging improper surveillance of Muslims by the FBI.
May 19, 2025
Privacy, Computer Fraud Claims Against Musk, Agencies Voluntarily Dismissed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A putative class complaint brought by six U.S. citizens in District of Columbia federal court against Elon Musk and two U.S. government agencies over the purported “unlawful ongoing, systematic, and continuous disclosure of personal and financial information” was voluntarily dismissed without explanation before the government could respond to the complaint.
May 19, 2025
D.C. Circuit: Trial Court Has Jurisdiction Over $5 Billion Meta Privacy Penalty

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A 2020 stipulated order in which the Federal Trade Commission penalized Facebook Inc. $5 billion for its continuing practices of sharing users’ personal information included an attachment that contained details about the order, a District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found May 16, concluding, therefore, that a trial court retained jurisdiction over enforcement of the settlement.
May 19, 2025
Child Porn Evidence From Warrantless Phone Search Suppressed By Judge

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Border agents’ search of an airline passenger’s smartphone without a warrant or probable cause violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to a New York federal judge, who also found no evidence that the search was conducted in good faith, leading her to grant the defendant’s motion to suppress evidence of child pornography that was obtained via the illegal search.
May 15, 2025
Health Care Firm’s Data Breach Suit Settlement Provides Up To $5,000 Per Claimant

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge on May 14 granted an unopposed motion for preliminary approval to the settlement of class claims over a health care provider’s 2023 data security incident, giving an initial thumbs up to an agreement that would provide for payments of up to $5,000 for each claimant in a settlement class he said “is likely to include millions of people.”