California Federal Court Dismisses User Information Claims Against Digital Wallet Company

Digital Commerce

On August 12, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed for failure to state a claim a putative class action alleging that a digital wallet provider made unauthorized disclosures of user information to third-party mobile app developers. Svenson v. Google Inc., No. 13-cv-04080, 2014 WL 3962820 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 12, 2014). The named plaintiff claimed that when the digital wallet provider processed payments for apps purchased through an affiliated online store, it also provided certain customer/personally identifiable information to third-party app developers, including email address, account name, home city and state, zip code, and in some instances, telephone number. The plaintiff asserted theories of breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, as well as violations of the Stored Communications Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law. The court held that the plaintiff’s breach of contract claim failed, reasoning in part that: (i) the plaintiff was not deprived of the “benefit of the bargain” given that the allegations involved free services and a $1.77 app; and (ii) there was no support for the theory that the economic value of the plaintiff’s information was diminished (because the plaintiff failed to allege that there was a market for the information). Similarly, the court held that the plaintiff’s Unfair Competition Law claims did not allege an economic injury, and that the breach of implied covenant claims were duplicative of the breach of contract claims. The court also dismissed the plaintiff’s Stored Communications Act claims.