Federal Court approves class settlement in data privacy case

March 27, 2018 – Federal district court judge Jon S. Tigar today granted final approval of the class action settlement reached in the firm’s breach of privacy case against a range of mobile application developers (including Twitter, Instagram and Yelp!) and Apple, Inc.  Following hotly-contested litigation, including a successful class certification effort led by firm partner David Given, Judge Tigar preliminarily approved the $5.3 million settlement in July 2017.  Today’s order marks the beginning of the end of the case, which began in March 2012 after reporting in the New York Times about private contact data being removed from iDevices without users’ knowledge or consent.  Approximately 60,000 class members who made claims will share in the common fund.  “As Judge Tigar’s order recognizes, this is an excellent result for the class,” Mr. Given said. “Moreover, the case produced four published decisions,” Mr. Given continued, “clarifying consumers’ rights to control their personal data and establishing a basis to pursue legal claims classwide when technology companies take or misuse that data.”  A final judgment in the case is expected soon.