U.S. Privacy and Data Protection | Insights | June 2024 (State Law)

U.S. Privacy and Data Protection | Insights | June 2024 (State Law)

Data breaches are on the rise, no matter the size or reputation of your business. If you are not adequately prepared to protect your business from a breach, you could face liability in the form of government actions and/or large private class actions.

Victims to Data Security Issues

Live Nation Entertainment, Ticketmaster's parent company, recently reported unauthorized activity within one of its databases containing company data. Upon further investigation, it was stated that, “...a criminal threat actor offered what it alleged to be company user data for sale via the dark web.”¹

Since the occurrence of this breach, lawsuits arose alleging the breach resulted in the exposure of the names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, ticket purchases, and partial credit card data of millions of customers, causing risk of mass identity theft and fraud.

As an example, on June 7, 2024, plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in California, on behalf of themselves and a nationwide class. Their complaint alleges that the resulting data breach occurred because the businesses failed to adequately protect customer data.² The plaintiffs are seeking an award of statutory damages, restitution, and disgorgement on behalf of themselves and all class members.

History Repeats Itself

The same criminal hacking group alleged in the above breach also claims to be responsible for the AT&T data breach that occurred in 2021. However, news of this breach only became public earlier this year, causing a spike in lawsuits against AT&T. Due to the scale of action being taken against AT&T, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidated these cases for coordinated proceedings.

These large-scale data breaches continue to highlight the need for proactive compliance and adequate responses if a data incident arises.

How Can Kronenberger Rosenfeld Help?

Kronenberger Rosenfeld, LLP regularly assists businesses with data privacy and security issues, including proactive compliance and experienced advice if any legal issues arise. If you need assistance for your business, contact our firm using our online case submission form here.