On June 3, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a pivotal ruling in longstanding litigation against Marriott International, Inc., arising out of a 2018 data breach involving its Starwood Preferred Guest Program. In reversing the lower court’s grant of class certification, the Fourth Circuit determined that the customers’ contractual agreements […]
Class Action
Ninth Circuit Addresses Personal Jurisdiction Based on E-Commerce Data Collection in En Banc Decision
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Briskin v. Shopify, Inc., No. 22-15815, could impact the scope of personal jurisdiction over e-commerce and other entities that utilize cookies to collect personal information from visitors to the entities’ websites, particularly in California. Although the impact of the case remains to be seen, […]
Georgia Supreme Court Clarifies There Is No Duty to Safeguard Personal Information from a Data Breach
The Georgia Supreme Court recently issued a decision holding that there is no duty to safeguard personal information from a data breach under Georgia law. Georgia Department of Labor v. McConnell involved the accidental disclosure of a spreadsheet that contained the name, social security number, home telephone number, email address, and age of thousands of […]
Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Schnuck Markets Data Breach Lawsuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action brought by financial institutions against Schnuck Markets, Inc., following a data breach impacting Schnuck beginning late 2012. The plaintiffs attempted to assert claims of negligence, negligence per se, various contract claims, and violation of Illinois consumer […]
Lenovo Wins Second Motion to Dismiss in Adware Class Action
By Jay Repko A California district court recently dismissed—for the second time—consumer claims that technology giant Lenovo Inc. violated New York’s Deceptive Acts and Practices Statute by selling laptops with preinstalled VisualDiscovery software that allegedly invades users’ privacy and exposes users to security breaches. In reaching this decision, Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. concluded that […]