Invasion of Privacy

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On November 25, a California federal court dismissed without prejudice a proposed class action against Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co., and General Motors LLC, claiming the carmakers failed to ensure the electronic security of their vehicles by equipping them with computer technology that is susceptible to being hacked by third parties. Cahen, et al. v. Toyota Motor Corp., et al., No. 15-cv-01104-WHO, 2015 WL 7566806 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 25, 2015).

The putative class of drivers sued the three automakers in March, claiming the companies knew for years that hackers could remotely control cars with drivers behind the wheel but did nothing to protect consumers. Notably, none of the plaintiffs alleged that such hacking had actually occurred or that they in particular were in danger of having their cars hijacked remotely.
Continue Reading Big Win for Automakers After Federal Judge Dismisses Car Hacking Lawsuit

Exploiting loopholes in Internet users’ cookie-blocking settings while claiming to protect them from cookies is a serious and deceitful invasion of privacy, the Third Circuit held November 10.

Ruling on an appeal from consumer plaintiffs, whose multi-district litigation against Google and several other companies that run Internet advertising businesses was dismissed in Delaware District Court, the Third Circuit in In re Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation affirmed the dismissal of the federal law claims and some state law claims, but kept the California privacy claims alive. When Google told users in its Privacy Policy that using the cookie blockers in the Safari and Internet Explorer browsers was effective, and then took advantage of loopholes in those blockers to allow the placement of cookies, it was deceptively engaging in actionable invasion of privacy under California law, the court held.  
Continue Reading Third Circuit Slams Google’s Allegedly ‘Deceitful’ Cookie Practices