Cybersecurity & Privacy

May 27, 2025
Retailer To Face Privacy Suit Instead Of Arbitration Claims

More than 2,400 Janie & Jack website visitors pursuing arbitration claims over the children clothing retailer's allegedly unlawful online tracking practices have agreed to drop these individual grievances and instead lodge a single proposed class action to press their allegations, according to a notice filed in California federal court.
May 27, 2025
Judge Taps Attys To Lead Ex-UMich Coach Hacking Suits

Eight lawsuits accusing the University of Michigan of failing to safeguard the private images and data of thousands of student-athletes from a former assistant football coach have been consolidated by a federal judge, who also appointed interim lead counsel.
May 27, 2025
Bankrupt 23andMe To Delist Stock After Regeneron Deal

Bankrupt genetic testing provider 23andMe Inc. said Tuesday it will delist its stock from the Nasdaq exchange, following Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s agreement last week to buy the defunct company.
May 27, 2025
FCC Mulls Adding Connected Vehicle Tech To Covered List

The Federal Communications Commission is thinking about adding more technologies to the list of those whose components are banned if they come from China or Russia, but it wants to hear what the industry thinks first.
May 27, 2025
Debate Over Moratorium On State AI Oversight Goes To Senate

Before going on recess, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their budget reconciliation bill that includes a hotly debated moratorium on states' enforcement of artificial intelligence-related legislation, and the debate continues as the bill heads to the U.S. Senate, where at least a few Republicans have voiced opposition.
May 27, 2025
DOJ Wants Google Docs Analyzing Potential Ad Tech Breakup

Enforcers are asking a Virginia federal court for access to Google documents analyzing a potential break up of the company's ad tech business, as the court considers what remedies to impose after finding Google monopolized key ad tech markets.
May 27, 2025
Crypto Exec's IRS Privacy Appeal Tossed By 5th Circ.

A cryptocurrency executive who sought to quash IRS summonses for his bank records must wait at least until the U.S. government decides whether to bring legal proceedings against him before he can appeal a ruling denying his request to block the agency's demands, the Fifth Circuit said Tuesday.
May 23, 2025
Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

This past year, a handful of attorneys secured billions of dollars in settlements and judgments for both classes and individual plaintiffs against massive companies and organizations like Facebook, Dell, the National Association of Realtors, Johnson & Johnson, UFC and Credit Suisse, earning them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2025.
May 23, 2025
9th Circ. Mulls 'Two John Smiths' In Classmates.com Class

Ninth Circuit judges Friday scrutinized a vast class of Californians whose identities were allegedly misappropriated by yearbooks platform Classmates.com, discussing ways to distinguish people with the same names and the case's implications for internet search giants — as well as how one judge's class of '62 yearbook might be a small part of the litigation.
May 23, 2025
Feds Charge Russian With Qakbot Malware Scheme

Federal prosecutors have unveiled charges and a $24 million cryptocurrency forfeiture action in California federal court against a man suspected of being the lead developer of the Qakbot malware that has infected hundreds of thousands of devices for ransomware schemes.
May 23, 2025
Meta, App Maker Flo Can't Escape All Of Privacy Class Action

A California federal judge ruled Thursday that Flo Health Inc. and Meta cannot escape all the claims in a class action brought by users of a menstrual cycle app who allege their privacy was violated, denying parts of both companies' summary judgment bids.
May 23, 2025
Banking Groups Want SEC To Pull Cyber Disclosure Mandates

A group of banking trade associations has called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to rescind a Biden-era mandate requiring public companies to disclose certain cybersecurity incidents, arguing it increases companies' risk when they fall victim to cyberattacks.
May 23, 2025
Seattle Cancer Center Inks $11.5M Class Data Breach Deal

A Washington state judge has given final approval to an $11.5 million class action settlement to end litigation against Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center over a 2023 data breach that exposed patient information, with the judge awarding $3.8 million in attorney fees in a deal class counsel values at more than $50 million.
May 23, 2025
Coinbase Investor Sues Over Hack Fallout, UK Fine

A Coinbase stockholder brought a proposed class action against the crypto exchange, claiming she and other investors felt the fallout after the firm suffered a headline-grabbing data breach and an earlier run-in with a U.K. regulator.
May 23, 2025
X Alleges Vietnamese Group Is Exploiting Engagement Metrics

X Corp. on Thursday filed suit in Texas federal court against several Vietnamese nationals it alleges run a cybercrime ring that farms money using computer-generated content and manipulating its social media platform's engagement metrics through bots.
May 23, 2025
Alex Jones Says $45.1M Sandy Hook Verdict Unconstitutional

Infowars host Alex Jones' newest attorneys have asked a Texas appeals court to overturn a $45.1 million defamation verdict awarded to Sandy Hook families, arguing the default judgment was unconstitutionally issued after limited discovery and that the award violates Texas law limiting punitive damages compared to actual harm.
May 23, 2025
Split DC Circ. Affirms Ax Of Ex-Trump Aide's Surveillance Suit

A split D.C. Circuit affirmed Friday the dismissal of claims by former Trump 2016 campaign adviser Carter Page that the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and former top officials violated privacy statutes in surveilling him as part of a Russian election interference probe.
May 23, 2025
Musk Doubles Down After OpenAI Drops For-Profit Transition

OpenAI's decision to abandon its transition into a for-profit enterprise was not enough to appease Elon Musk, who doubled down Thursday with an amended California federal court complaint continuing to allege the ChatGPT maker tricked him into contributing nearly $45 million with false promises of remaining a nonprofit.
May 22, 2025
Health Education Provider Can't Shake Video Privacy Suit

A Wisconsin federal judge has refused to toss a proposed class action accusing healthcare continuing education provider Pesi Inc. of unlawfully sharing information about the videos that customers purchased with Meta, Google and others, finding that federal video privacy law covers both the nonprofit organization and the allegedly disclosed data.
May 22, 2025
Microsoft Says It Helped Disrupt Popular Malware Lumma

Microsoft said Wednesday that it recently filed suit against Lumma Stealer as part of its work with Europol's European Cybercrime Centre to disrupt the popular and pervasive info-stealing malware that steals passwords, credit card and bank account information and cryptocurrency wallets.
May 22, 2025
FCC Clamps Down On 'Bad Labs' Seen As Security Threats

Labs that test communications equipment flowing to the U.S. market will get a security makeover after a vote Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission.
May 22, 2025
Senators Unveil DNA Privacy Bill Amid 23andMe's Ch. 11 Sale

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Thursday introduced a bill designed to safeguard customers' genetic information in bankruptcy cases, saying 23andMe's plan to sell users' DNA data to a pharmaceutical company during its Chapter 11 raises new concerns surrounding consumer privacy.
May 22, 2025
Fla. Can't End Tech Groups' Challenge To Social Media Law

A Florida federal judge on Thursday denied the state's motion to dismiss a complaint brought by technology groups challenging a Florida law restricting social media companies from blocking political candidates, ruling that the plaintiffs have standing to sue on behalf of their members.
May 22, 2025
Agreement Reached In Lawsuits Over H&R Block Data Breach

H&R Block has reached an agreement with customers who sued the company in separate class actions over a data breach that affected 23,000 people, according to a Missouri federal court.
May 22, 2025
Life Insurer Strikes $335K Deal In Data Breach Suit

A woman who said her personal information was potentially compromised in a 2023 data breach at a life insurance and financial planning company asked a Connecticut federal court to sign off on the parties' settlement agreement, which would create a $335,000 settlement fund to resolve her proposed class action.

Expert Analysis

5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
Predicting Where State AGs Will Direct Their Attention In 2025

In 2025, we expect state attorneys general will navigate a new presidential administration while continuing to further regulate and police financial services, artificial intelligence, junk fees and antitrust, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
The Blueprint For A National Bitcoin Reserve

The new administration has the opportunity to pave the way for a U.S.-backed crypto reserve, which could conceptually function as a strategic asset akin to traditional reserves like gold markets, hedge against economic instability, and influence global crypto adoption, say attorneys at Duane Morris.
FTC Privacy Enforcement Takeaways From 2024

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission distinguished three prominent trends in its privacy-related enforcement actions: geolocation data protections, data minimization practices, and artificial intelligence use and marketing, say Cobun Zweifel-Keegan at IAPP and James Smith at Dechert.
Student Loan Entities In Hot Seat After CFPB Goes To College

While the direction of student loan servicer oversight in the new presidential administration is unclear, recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau actions still signal heightened regulatory scrutiny at both the federal and state levels of college institutional loan programs, along with their service providers, says attorney Jonathan Joshua.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
2024 Was A Significant Year For HIPAA Compliance

The Office of Civil Rights' high level of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act activity in 2024 and press releases about its specific focus on certain cybersecurity issues make it abundantly clear that the OCR is not going to tolerate widespread compliance complacency, says Nathan Kottkamp at Williams Mullen.
Small Biz Caught In Corporate Transparency Act Crossfire

Despite compliance being put on hold due to a nationwide preliminary injunction, small businesses have been caught in the middle of the legal battle over the Corporate Transparency Act — and confusion over the law's requirements could result in major penalties, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
Looking Back At 2024's Noteworthy State AG Litigation

State attorneys general across the U.S. took bold steps in 2024 to address unlawful activities by corporations in several areas, including privacy and data security, financial transparency, children's internet safety, and other overall consumer protection claims, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
What Broker-Dealers Must Know Before Selling Bitcoin ETPs

Interest in bitcoin exchange-traded products is already high, and only expected to grow in light of the incoming Trump administration's pro-crypto stance, but broker-dealers must still consider numerous regulatory requirements before recommending a bitcoin ETP to a client, say Frank Weigand and Justine Woods at Cahill Gordon.
Cyber Disclosure Is A Mainstay In 2025 SEC Exam Priorities

Despite a new administration and a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chair incoming, the SEC's 2025 examination priorities signal that cybersecurity disclosures and risk management practices will remain important due to the growing threat of cyberattacks, says Anjali Das at Wilson Elser.