On August 25, 2016, a federal court in San Francisco, California granted final approval of a settlement for multiple class action lawsuits alleging Yahoo!’s email scanning practices violated state and federal wiretap laws. Kaplan Fox, who is court-appointed co-lead counsel in the case, filed its lawsuit in 2013 alleging that Yahoo!’s scanning of consumers’ email for advertising purposes violated California’s Invasion of Privacy Act and the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

On May 26, 2015, the Honorable Lucy Koh of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California certified a national class and a California subclass of non-Yahoo! email users who alleged Yahoo’s conduct invaded their privacy rights. One commentator writing for Law360 called the decision “noteworthy” and a “first-of-its-kind” ruling because “it is one of the first cases in which a class has been certified in a data privacy suit.” The Court found that the settlement of the lawsuit, which requires Yahoo! to change its email scanning practices so that it no longer scans email for advertising purposes while the email is in transit and update its privacy disclosures, “achieved [Plaintiffs’] stated goals in the litigation.”

Kaplan Fox’s digital privacy lawyers have expertise and experience enforcing consumers’ rights to privacy in cases involving internet, digital, and online privacy. Our team has a strong track record of representing consumers in class action lawsuits against health insurers, retailers, manufacturers and internet service providers when they have failed to protect their own customers’ privacy rights. As a result of our efforts, we’ve recovered compensation for victims and worked hard to ensure companies implement stronger privacy practices to ensure customers are protected in the future. If you have questions about whether your privacy rights have been violated or would like to learn more about the Yahoo! email scanning lawsuit, fill out the form below or contact us toll-free at 1-844-333-7660.