Hello and welcome to another MLEX podcast.

I'm Mike Swift, MLEX's chief correspondent for digital risk in San Francisco, California.

We're in a busy time in the United States for legal issues around privacy and data security.

One of the men charged with hacking Yahoo's website causing the largest known data breach in history

has been brought here in San Francisco to face trial.

Even as a federal judge in San Jose prepares to decide whether

civil litigation against Yahoo can move forward. Meanwhile, in a case that went up to the United

States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an important ruling

for future privacy and data breach litigation. Here with me to discuss these issues is Amy Miller. Emlex's privacy and data breach litigation. Here with me to discuss these issues is Amy Miller,

M-Lex's privacy and data security reporter here in San Francisco. Hello Amy.

Hey Mike. So tell us a little bit more about this case, Robbins v. Spokio. Why is it important?

Well, the case addresses this thorny issue of harm and standing

in privacy and data breach litigation. District court judges have been reluctant to let these cases move forward

because they're arguing that the plaintiffs can't show or demonstrate that they've been harmed in any way by these alleged violations. So that's what happened to Tom Robbins.

He had sued Spokio in 2010 because they had published some inaccurate information about him in a report

that he was in his 50s, that he was wealthy, none of this was true.

And so the district court judge in California said that he hadn't shown that he'd been harmed.

And they took it to the Ninth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit said, yes, he's been harmed.

And Spokio appealed to the Supreme Court.

And the Supreme Court said that the Ninth Circuit wasn't wrong,

but they just hadn't done a thorough analysis

on whether or not Robbins had been injured concretely. The Supreme Court said that injury

...