Skip to main content
Menu Icon
Close

InfoBytes Blog

Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

District court approves MDL data breach settlement

Courts MDL Settlement Attorney Fees Class Action Data Breach Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

Courts

On July 21, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued an order approving a $117.5 million class action settlement, including $23 million in attorneys’ fees, with a global internet company to resolve multidistrict litigation concerning the exposure of class members’ sensitive information stemming from multiple data breaches. The settlement approval follows a fairness hearing, as the court originally denied preliminary approval due to several identified deficiencies (covered by InfoBytes here), including that the settlement inadequately disclosed the sizes of the settlement fund and class, as well as the scope of non-monetary relief, and “appear[ed] likely to result in an improper reverter of attorneys’ fees.” Last July, the court preliminarily signed off on a revised settlement, conditionally certifying a class of U.S. and Israeli residents and small businesses with accounts between 2012 and 2016 that were affected by the breaches. These class members have been certified in the final approved settlement, which requires the company to provide class members with either two years of credit monitoring services or alternative compensation for members who already have credit monitoring. Among other things, the company will allocate at least $66 million each year to its information security budget until 2022, will increase the number of full-time security employees from current levels, and will “align its information security program with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework” and “undertake annual third-party assessments to ensure compliance” with the framework.