Jessica Carey, who sued Comcast and Citrix in January involving the cloud platform provider’s October data breach (see 2401030066), filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice Friday (docket 0:24-cv-60008) in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in Fort Lauderdale. Carey’s negligence class action was one of a dozen named in a January motion before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation for transfer to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings (see 2401120011). Carey's negligence suit alleges she was required to give Comcast her personal information as a condition of receiving internet service, and she has since suffered emotional distress and lost time associated with mitigating the breach's impact.
Publishers Clearing House (PCH) seeks the dismissal of James Camoras’ Dec. 15 class action under Utah’s Notice of Intent to Sell Nonpublic Personal Information Act (NISNPIA) because the statute “explicitly forbids” class actions, said PCH’s motion Friday (docket 4:23-cv-00118) in U.S. District Court for Utah in St. George. Camoras bought a tripod and a book from PCH in December 2022 and February 2023, and he alleges that PCH didn’t notify him that it discloses customers' private purchase information to third parties (see 2312180014). Without Camoras’ class claims, the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over the plaintiff's individual claim, as it’s not sufficient to meet the amount in controversy required by statute, said PCH’s motion. He also has failed to allege the “essential elements” of a claim under NISNPIA, it said. Even if the court did have jurisdiction over this matter, the complaint fails to allege that PCH itself “maintains an office in Utah, which is a required element under NISNPIA,” it said. The complaint also fails to adequately allege that PCH disclosed Camoras’ nonpublic personal information to any third party, it said.
Statements in Fertility Center of Las Vegas’ (FCLV) privacy policy that it doesn’t share patients’ private information with third parties are "false,” alleged a class action Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-00411) in U.S. District Court for Nevada in Las Vegas.
Some 21% of data breach victims don’t realize their identity has been compromised until more than two years after it has happened, said a class action (docket 8:24-cv-00433) brought by three plaintiffs vs. loanDepot Friday in U.S. District Court for Central California in Santa Ana.
Solar panel company Greenstar Power denies the allegations in Kelly Pinn’s class action that it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Texas Business and Commerce Code (TBCC), said Greenstar’s answer Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-00066) in U.S. District Court for Western Texas in Austin. Pinn alleges that Greenstar hired an unidentified vendor to make telemarketing calls to numbers on the national do not call registry, and that her own number has been on the DNC registry for more than a year (see 2401230002). But the complaint “fails to allege facts sufficient to state a cause of action” against Greenstar, said its answer. The TCPA and its regulations, rules and interpretations, plus the TBCC, violate the First Amendment because they impose “content-based restrictions on speech that fail to withstand strict scrutiny,” it said. The application of the TCPA and TBCC, on which the complaint is based, including the imposition of statutory damages on Greenstar, also violate the Constitution's due process provisions, it said. Certain definitions contained in the TCPA also “render the statute unconstitutionally vague,” it said. Additionally, the statutory penalties that Pinn seeks are excessive, it said. She and her putative class members are barred from asserting their claims “because the calls at issue were sent with the recipients’ prior express permission or consent and that consent was either irrevocable or was not effectively revoked,” it said. Any and all claims brought in the complaint are barred because Greenstar “possessed a good-faith belief that it was not committing any wrongdoing and any violations resulted from a bona fide error,” despite reasonable practices to prevent violations of the TBCC, the TCPA and related regulations, it said.
Sellers International, the parent company of Quimbee, a website tailored to law students, seeks the dismissal of Isaac Shapiro’s Jan. 4 Video Privacy Protection Act class action for failure to state a claim on which relief may be granted, said its motion Thursday (docket 4:24-cv-00079) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland. Shapiro alleges Sellers knowingly disclosed his personally identifiable information (PII), including a record of case brief videos he watched on the Quimbee website, without his consent (see 2401110045). He alleges that Quimbee installed the HubSpot tracking code on its website, which tracks and records visitors’ private video consumption. But the plaintiff’s complaint “lacks crucial allegations” to bring a VPPA claim against Quimbee, said the defendant’s memorandum of points and authorities in support of its motion to dismiss. Shapiro fails to allege Quimbee is a videotape service provider under the VPPA, “or that an ordinary person would be able to glean video viewing history from the information allegedly shared with HubSpot,” it said. Quimbee also didn’t disclose any PII, as HubSpot “is merely the tool that Quimbee uses to collect information about Quimbee’s own customers, exclusively for Quimbee’s own use,” it said. If the VPPA is interpreted in the manner that Shapiro “advocates,” the VPPA violates due process and the First Amendment, it said. Shapiro’s California Invasion of Privacy Act claim also fails because Quimbee didn’t “aid or abet its software vendor,” and Shapiro has failed to allege that HubSpot violated the CIPA, it said.
HopSkipDrive should have known it was responsible for protecting plaintiff Tara McIntosh’s and class members' personal information, alleged McIntosh’s data breach negligence class action Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-01676) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. The ride-hailing service waited over three months after being notified of a May 31-June 10 data breach, discovered “one to two months afterward,” to notify McIntosh of the incident, said the complaint. The Spokane, Washington, resident received a letter from HopSkipDrive Nov. 14, notifying her that her personally identifiable information had been improperly accessed, it said.
Business Insider parent Insider Inc. violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) by using a tracking tool that collects the IP addresses of visitors to its website without prior consent and a court order, alleged a class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-01566) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan.
A long-time T-Mobile customer is suing the carrier over the “regulatory programs & telco recovery fee” on its monthly invoices, said a class action removed Thursday to U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles.
Telephone Consumer Protection Act plaintiff Thomas Grant seeks limited expedited discovery to preserve relevant records of calls that Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s 2024 presidential campaign made to Grant and his putative class, said the plaintiff’s motion Thursday (docket 2:24-cv-00281) in U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio in Columbus.