U.S. Supreme Court Case Could Have Major Implications on Data Breach Cases
On April 27, 2015, the US Supreme Court granted Spokeo, Inc.’s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari appealing an opinion from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
The Ninth Circuit decision held that the Plaintiff, Thomas Robins, had standing to bring claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) on behalf of a purported class. A number of plaintiffs have had their data breach cases dismissed based on findings that they lacked standing because they were incapable of showing they were injured.
In his First Amended Complaint, Robins, an unemployed individual, brought a purported class action under FCRA and California’s Unfair Competition Law based on a consumer report that Spokeo allegedly prepared indicating that he had a graduate degree, his economic health was “very strong” and he was in the top 10 percent wealth level. Robins alleged these reported facts were false. He claimed that Spokeo’s marketing of inaccurate consumer reporting information caused him actual and/or imminent harm sufficient enough to confer upon him standing to sue Spokeo.
Read more at http://www.cyberrisknetwork.com/2015/05/07/u-s-supreme-court-to-hear-case-that-may-have-major-implications-on-data-breach-cases/
Guerra, Nikolai. ‘U.S. Supreme Court case could have major implications on data breach cases’. ©2015 Cyber Risk Network. 21 May 2015.