Judge Dismantles PlayStation Network Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit

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A federal judge hacked away at a consolidated class action seeking to hold Sony responsible for the 2011 data breach that exposed the private credit card information, billing addresses and other personal information of nearly 70 million PlayStation Network, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment customers.

The Sony PlayStation hack class action lawsuit, titled In Re: Sony Gaming Networks and Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, sought to punish the company for failing to protect the personal data of millions of users who were exposed to identity theft by hackers in April 2011. Plaintiffs claimed Sony knew or should have known that its systems were vulnerable to hackers but did nothing to beef up its safeguards prior to the attack, including following industry-standard protocols.

Sony moved to dismiss the PlayStation data breach class action lawsuit, which U.S. District Judge Anthony Battaglia granted in part last week.

Judge Battaglia dismissed several claims, including negligence, unjust enrichment and bailment because Plaintiffs did not accuse Sony of being involved with the data breach. Battaglia also dismissed claims Sony violated California consumer-protection laws “because none of the named plaintiffs subscribed to premium PSN services, and thus received the PSN services free of cost.”

The judge also ruled that Sony did not misrepresent the quality of its protections on its services because all PSN users signed a Sony Privacy Policy that included “clear admonitory language that Sony’s security was not ‘perfect,'” therefore “no reasonable consumer could have been deceived.”

Battaglia is allowing the Plaintiffs to amend their claims for injunctive relief and violation of consumer protection laws. They have until November 9, 2012 to file an amended consolidated complaint.

The Sony PlayStation Network Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit case is In re: Sony Gaming Networks and Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 11-md-2258 AJB (MDD), U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.

UPDATE: Plaintiffs refiled their complaint in December 2012 and Sony motioned to dismiss the amended class action lawsuit in February 2013. Judge Battaglia sided with Sony and dismissed the majority of claims in the amended PlayStation data breach class action lawsuit but refused to dismiss it entirely, according to a Jan. 21, 2014 order. 

UPDATE 2: Sony has agreed to pay $15 million to settle the PlayStation Network data breach class action lawsuit, according to court documents filed July 13, 2014.

UPDATE 3: Instructions on how to file a claim for the PlayStation Network data breach class action settlement are now available! Click here