Three notable developments in privacy class actions

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UNITED STATES

Three notable developments in privacy class actions

Three notable developments in privacy class actions occurred in the last week.

Kochava Class Actions Settle. According to a joint status report submitted to a Massachusetts District Court, three class actions (in Massachusetts, Idaho and California) by mobile data broker Kochava have settled. The actions are based on Kochava’s sale of individuals’ precise location information without user consent or compensation.

NBA VPPA Class Action is Revived on Appeal. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court dismissal of a Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) class action against the NBA, finding that the lower court erred in holding that individuals who signed up for an online newsletter are not “subscribers” under the law.

Betterhelp’s Motion to Dismiss is Denied. A California court denied online counseling platform Betterhelp’s motion to dismiss certain class action claims against it, including a new claim that, by sharing data about its users with third party advertising platforms, Betterhelp knowingly divulged the contents of a communication while in electronic storage in violation of the Stored Communications Act.

TAKEAWAY

Although the laws, data types, and entity types vary across these cases, they all involve the collection and sharing of personal information with third parties for advertising purposes without user consent, which has become an increasingly common target for class action lawsuits under various legal theories.

Download our essential guide to learn how different states define sensitive information, understand enforcement mechanisms, and discover best practices for processing sensitive data.

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A Little Privacy, Please weekly recaps are provided for general, informational purposes only, do not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied upon for legal decision-making. Please consult an attorney to determine how legal updates may impact you or your business.