On June 14, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Facebook, holding that the company did not violate the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act. This blog entry provides an overview of the case.
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Ninth Circuit
Ninth Circuit Reverses District Court Decision in Zappos Consumer Data Breach Case
On March 8, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision from the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.
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Supreme Court Finds Consumers Must Prove Injury in Class Actions
On May 16, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Spokeo Inc. v. Thomas Robins, holding that the Ninth Circuit’s ruling applied an incomplete analysis when it failed to consider both aspects of the injury-in-fact requirement under Article III. The Court found that a consumer could not sue Spokeo, Inc., an alleged consumer reporting agency that operates a “people search engine,” for a mere statutory violation without alleging actual injury.
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Ninth Circuit Holds that the EEOC Has Broad Access to Personal Information, Including Social Security Numbers
On October 27, 2015, the Ninth Circuit held in EEOC v. McLane Co., Inc. that the EEOC has broad subpoena powers to obtain nationwide private personnel information, including Social Security numbers. …
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Appeals Court Holds User Consent Required to Enforce Website Terms of Use
On August 18, 2014, a U.S. federal appeals court issued a decision holding that Barnes and Noble’s website Terms of Use were not enforceable because the website failed to provide sufficient notice of the Terms to users of the site. …
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Appeals Court Holds “Reasonable Suspicion” Required for Forensic Search of Laptop at the Border
On March 8, 2013, a U.S. federal appeals court issued a decision in United States v. Cotterman, holding that the federal government must have “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity to conduct a forensic search of laptops and similar devices in the possession of individuals attempting to cross the border.
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Privacy Settings on Social Networking Sites May Determine Protection Under Stored Communications Act
A federal district court in California recently quashed a civil subpoena for private messages sent through Facebook and MySpace, but found that more evidence regarding the plaintiff’s privacy settings was needed to determine whether his wall posts and comments should be similarly protected.
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Supreme Court Sets Oral Argument in Quon v. Arch Wireless for April 19, 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court has set oral argument for April 19, 2010, to review the Ninth Circuit’s 2008 decision on employee privacy in Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co. Although Quon concerns the scope of privacy rights afforded to public employees under the Fourth Amendment, the case also has forced private employers to renew their focus on ensuring robust and consistent enforcement of employee monitoring policies. Unlike government employers, private employers are not subject to the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures; instead, they must comply with federal wiretap statutes and state law. In practice, however, the “reasonable expectation of privacy” test courts apply to state common law privacy claims that govern private employers is virtually identical to the Fourth Amendment test. Accordingly, the Supreme Court’s review of the Constitutional test likely will affect how courts view privacy claims brought against private employers.
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Supreme Court to Address Employee Privacy
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will review the Ninth Circuit’s 2008 decision on employee privacy in Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co. In Quon, the Ninth Circuit considered whether the Ontario, California police department and the City of Ontario violated a police officer’s privacy rights by reviewing private text messages the officer sent using a two-way pager issued by the police department. The police officer had on several occasions exceeded the limit on the text messages provided by the department-paid plan. Each time, the officer paid for the overage without anyone reviewing his text messages. When the officer again exceeded the limit, his supervisor requested from the service provider and subsequently reviewed transcripts of the officer’s messages to determine if the messages were work-related.
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