Data breaches have become a serious issue for businesses, leading to numerous putative class action lawsuits alleging that the defendants failed to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of personally identifiable information or protected health information of their employees or customers.

Plaintiffs are becoming increasingly creative in their attempts to seek relief involving alleged privacy violations resulting from their online activity. This includes raising allegations of violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act, a federal law enacted in 1988 largely in response to privacy concerns surrounding businesses’ use of individuals’ video tape rental histories.