Not-for-profit healthcare organization MedStar Health failed to encrypt or redact current and former patients’ protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) in a 2023 data breach that occurred between Jan. 25 and Oct. 13, alleged two Tuesday class actions (dockets 1:24-cv-01337 and 1:24-cv-01335) in U.S. District Court for Maryland. The virtually identical complaints were filed by Milberg Coleman attorney Thomas Pacheco.
Online storage company Dropbox disregarded the rights of users by “intentionally” and “recklessly” failing to take adequate measures to protect their personally identifiable information (PII) and allowing it to be accessed in a data breach it purportedly discovered April 24, alleged a negligence class action Tuesday (docket 3:24-cv-02731) in U.S. District Court for Northern California.
The “hidden spy pixel trackers” that Target embeds in its marketing emails to customers violate Arizona’s Telephone, Utility and Communication Service Records Act, alleged a class action Tuesday (docket 2:24-cv-01048) in U.S. District Court for Arizona.
Four school district tagalong class actions were transferred to In Re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation Tuesday in conditional transfer order 31 (CTO-31), said a clerk’s notice (docket 3047) for the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. Twenty actions were transferred to U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland in October 2022 for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings and assigned to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Since then, 141 additional actions involving questions of fact that are common to the actions previously transferred have been transferred to the court, said the order. Two of the four cases in CTO-31 vs. Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snap and TikTok are from U.S. District Court for Middle Florida, one is from Maryland federal court and one from U.S. District Court for Eastern North Carolina. The lawsuits allege social media platforms are responsible for a rise in mental health disorders among U.S. youth.
David Krugman personally listed his cellphone number on the national do not call registry in 2019, yet Sun Solar placed at least three prerecorded telemarketing calls to that number in late April to promote its solar services, and did so without his consent, alleged Krugman's Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action. The Kansas City, Missouri, plaintiff filed his complaint Monday (docket 4:24-cv-00329) in U.S. District Court for Western Missouri in Kansas City. Krugman and all members of his classes have been harmed by Sun Solar’s acts “because their privacy has been violated and they were annoyed and harassed,” said the complaint. The calls also occupied their phone lines, rendering them unavailable for legitimate communication, including while driving, working, "and performing other critical tasks," it said.
Lowe’s embedded spy tracking pixels in marketing emails to Arizona residents to monitor the behavior of those who subscribed to its email list, alleged a privacy class action (docket 2:24-cv-01030) against the home improvement retailer and Salesforce Sunday in U.S. District Court for Arizona.
Julia Faure listed her cellphone number with the national do not call registry in December 2019, and has maintained that registration through the present date, yet beginning in May 2022, Optimal Home Buyers sent her numerous text messages seeking to solicit her to use the company in the sale of her home, alleged Faure’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Friday (docket 1:24-cv-21739) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Miami. Faure didn’t recognize the sender, and wasn’t looking to sell her home, said the complaint. The Melbourne, Florida, resident also didn’t give the company her prior express written consent to send text messages to her cellphone, it said. Faure suffered actual harm as a result of the text messages at issue “in that she suffered an invasion of privacy, an intrusion into her life, and a private nuisance,” it said. She suffered additional harm “due to her frustration and difficulty in identifying the entity and persons responsible for the unwanted advertisement or marketing text messages” to her cellphone, it said. Optimal knew or should have known that Faure listed her cellphone number with the DNC registry, said her complaint.
Monica Abboud listed her cellphone number on the national do not call registry in February 2020, yet an Austin restaurant inundated her with multiple unsolicited text messages promoting its business, alleged her Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action Friday (docket 1:24-cv-00482) in U.S. District Court for Western Texas in Austin. Through Hoboken Pie’s unlawful conduct, Abboud “suffered an invasion of a legally protected interest in privacy, which is specifically addressed and protected by the TCPA,” said her complaint. Before filing suit, the Texas resident’s counsel sent the defendant a letter requesting any information regarding the authority it alleged for sending the unsolicited text messages, it said. The restaurant responded with no DNC list or registry verification information, the class action. Hoboken Pie also offered Abboud no “informative information” about the unsolicited text messages, it said.
J.P. Morgan Chase failed to properly secure the personally identifiable information (PII) of its clients’ employees in a data breach that occurred in 2021 but wasn’t discovered until February of this year, alleged a class action Friday (docket 1:24-cv-03438) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York.
Yippee Entertainment, a faith-based streaming service for children, violates the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by disclosing the personally identifiable information (PII) of viewers for marketing, advertising and analytics purposes, alleged a class action Friday (docket 3:24-cv-00797) in U.S. District Court for Southern California.