Facebook, Google and Lexis-Nexis Get 47 USC 230 Immunity in a Bizarre Case Involving a Missing Sex Toy–Gaston v. Facebook
By Eric Goldman Magistrate ruling: Gaston v. Facebook, Inc., 2012 WL 629868 (D. Or. February 2, 2012) Judge’s approval of the magistrate’s ruling: Gaston v. Facebook, Inc., 2012 WL 610005 (D. Or. February 24, 2012) Kanal V. Gaston went on…
Healthcare Data Breach Victims’ Lawsuit Tossed When They Can’t Show Harm–Paul v. Providence
By Eric Goldman Paul v. Providence Health Systems–Oregon, SC S059131 (Ore. Sup. Ct. Feb. 24, 2012) A Providence employee left disks/tapes containing records for 365,000 patients in his/her car, and they were stolen. The opinion implicitly assumes that the data…
California Appeals Court Says Emails That Don’t Identify Sender Violate State Spam Statute – Balsam v. Trancos
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Balsam v. Trancos, Inc., 2012 WL 593703 (Ca. Ct. App.; Feb. 24, 2012) It seemed like most emailers and anti-spam activists have moved on from worrying about spam email to other things, such as social networks,…
Reidentification Theory Doesn’t Save Privacy Lawsuit–Steinberg v. CVS Caremark
By Eric Goldman Steinberg v. CVS Caremark Corp., 2012 WL 507807 (E.D. Pa. Feb. 16, 2012) CVS Caremark provided consumer data to pharma companies and data brokers. The plaintiffs alleged that the data transfers violated CVS’s privacy policies, but CVS…
Reputation Management Lawsuit Is Shot Down–Bernard v. Donat
By Eric Goldman Bernard v. Donat, 2012 WL 525533 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 16, 2011). The Justia page. Donald Ray Bernard is an energy consultant, big game hunt tour operator, former lawyer and former law professor. His LinkedIn page. His Google…
Banning Sex Offenders from Social Networking Sites is Unconstitutional–Doe v. Jindal
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Jindal, 2012 WL 540100 (M.D. La. Feb. 16, 2012) Sex offenders–especially those who victimize children–are pariahs in our society. If it were possible, I bet many folks would favor blasting them off into space rather…
RadioShack May Be Liable for Accessing Images from Recycled Customer Cellphone — Steele v. RadioShack
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Steele v. RadioShack Corp., 11-14021 (E.D. Mich.; Feb. 3, 2012) Steele bought a new phone at RadioShack, after which a RadioShack employee transferred the data from Steele’s old phone to his new one. Steele also left…
Courts Continue to Grapple with Discovery Disputes Around Social Networking Evidence
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Tompkins v. Detroit Metro Airport, 10-10413 (E.D. Mich.; Jan. 18, 2012) This is a slip and fall case where the plaintiff alleges that injuries she suffered at Detroit’s Metro airport affected her quality of life and…
Facebook Gets Decisive Win Against Pseudo-Competitor Power Ventures — Facebook v. Power Ventures
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc., et al., C 08-05780 JW (N.D. Cal.; Feb. 16, 2012) The long-running dispute between Facebook and Power Ventures came to a close last week, with Judge…
Another Data Loss Case Tossed on Article III Grounds–Whitaker v. Health Net
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Whitaker v. Health Net of California, Inc., Civ S-11-0910 KHM-DAD (E.D. Cal.; Jan. 19, 2012) This is another data breach class action. Plaintiffs tried to squeeze their claims through a narrow opening left by Ninth Circuit…