Supreme Court Has Chance to Resolve Data Breach Harm Circuit Split

By Daniel R. Stoller

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to decide Feb. 16 whether to accept an appeal by health insurer CareFirst Inc. on how much harm stemming from a data breach is needed to support a consumer lawsuit.

Federal courts have struggled with how to apply the Supreme Court’s ruling in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins that plaintiffs must allege a harm that is “actual or imminent” rather than speculative to have federal court standing. The issue is particularly challenging in data breach cases where cybercriminals may not have used allegedly stolen consumer data, but affected individuals fear misuse ...