Posts Tagged: "breach of privacy"

Here’s why the Equifax lawsuit could have far-reaching consequences

To get the case off the ground, the court will decide whether Equifax can be sued in the first place – it’s tricky, because different federal circuits disagree about when this can happen. So, courts in Delaware, Illinois and Washington DC (for example) would allow the plaintiffs to proceed merely because their data is at risk after a hack. This is pretty easy to show. On the other hand though, New York, Conneticut and North Carolina would need to see not just a leak, but that the leaked data has actually been misused afterwards. Equifax HQ is in Atlanta, the 11th circuit. Although those courts have a history of recognising that difficulty (and so supporting data victim lawsuits), it hasn’t yet come down firmly on the question of risk vs misuse.

Tristan Sherliker

September 18, 2017

Supreme Court of Canada Rules on the Enforceability of Forum Selection Clauses in Online Contracts

The Supreme Court of Canada has just released a decision (Douez v. Facebook, Inc., 2017 SCC 33) that provides a framework for assessing the enforceability of forum selection clauses. The decision continues the trend of affording protection to consumers in the face of considerations of uneven bargaining power in un-negotiated online contracts referred to as “contracts of adhesion”… A few years ago, Facebook released an advertising product that used the name and picture of Facebook users, allegedly without their consent. BC’s Privacy Act offers a cause of action for breach of privacy rights. The Plaintiff in this case sought to adjudicate the alleged infringement of her privacy rights in BC courts (as part of a class action comprising Facebook users).

Robert Tremblay

June 29, 2017