Employer Who Fails to Consistently Enforce Computer Usage Policy Cannot use the Policy to Justify Dismissal — Branson v. Harrah’s
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Branson v. Harrah’s Tunica Corp., et al., 08-cv-02804-BBD-cgc (W.D. Tn; June 3, 2011) (decision) Background: Branson was an employee with the Grand Casino for over ten years, from 1996 to 2007. Harrah’s acquired Grand in 2006….
Bank ACH Fraud Victims Get Mixed Rulings — Experi-Metal v. Comerica Bank & Patco Constr. v. People’s United Bank
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] We have posted on numerous cases involving data breach plaintiffs who are rebuffed by courts because they have not suffered cognizable harm such as out-of-pocket losses. A pair of recent cases involved businesses whose bank accounts…
April-May 2011 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Search Engines * Google is working on a deal with the DOJ over illegal pharmaceutical ads and has set aside $500M for fines. Some background on the problem. Google isn’t the only search engine with problematic pharmaceutical…
NebuAd Deep Packet Inspection Lawsuits Sputter — Deering v. CenturyTel & Green v. Cable One
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] The alleged monitoring and use of ISP subscribers’ internet activity for advertisement targeting purposes by NebuAd spawned a slew of class actions. NebuAd shut down, leaving plaintiffs to go after the individual ISPs who partnered with…
Updates on DoctoredReviews.com and Medical Justice
By Eric Goldman You may recall our April launch of DoctoredReviews.com, a website explaining why Medical Justice’s form agreement, the “Mutual Agreement to Maintain Privacy,” was a bad deal for doctors, patients and review websites. See a list of the…
Yahoo! Entitled to Immunity for Disclosing User Information in Response to Subpoena — Sams v. Yahoo!
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Sams v. Yahoo!, Inc., CV-10-5897-JF(HRL) (N.D. Cal.; May 18, 2011) Fayelynn Sams sued Yahoo!, contending that Yahoo! improperly produced information in response to a subpoena which requested information regarding Sams’s account. She brought a putative class…
No Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Violation for Access of Facebook and Personal Email by Employee — Lee v. PMSI
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Lee v. PMSI, 8:10 cv 2904 T 23TBM (M.D. Fla; May 6, 2011) I blogged last week about US v. Nosal, a Ninth Circuit case where the Ninth Circuit held that access of a computer in…
Facebook Scores Initial Win Against Privacy Plaintiffs Over Data Leakage Claims — In re Facebook Privacy Litigation
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re Facebook Privacy Litigation, 2011 WL 2039995 (N.D. Cal.; May 12, 2011) There are so many recent privacy class actions out there, it’s become tough to keep track of them all. One of the early…
The FTC’s Proposed Settlement With Google Over Buzz Privacy Breaches
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with additional comments from Eric] [Eric’s note: This topic festered in my blogging queue for far too long, so we are finally posting this after the FTC’s comment window closed. Nevertheless, this is such an interesting…
9th Cir: Access of Computer in Violation of Employer’s Use Policy Violates Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — US v. Nosal
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] US v. Nosal, 10-10038 (9th Cir.; Apr. 28, 2011) The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of an indictment under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, holding that an employee’s access of an employer’s protected…