MONTH-IN-BRIEF (Aug 2018)
Cybersecurity
Anthem Data Breach Settlement Approved
By Sara Beth A.R. Kohut, Young Conaway
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has approved a settlement of class action litigation stemming from the 2015 data breach of health-insurer Anthem, Inc. In re Anthem, Inc. Data Breach Litigation, Nos. 15-MD-02617-LHK (N.D. Cal. Aug. 15, 2018). The settlement provides $115 million for a class that includes more than 79 million people whose personal information was compromised in the breach. The settlement will cover credit monitoring services for two years, or alternative cash payments for class members who already have those services. Additionally, Anthem will triple its annual data-security spending for three years and adopt additional cybersecurity controls. The settlement also includes a cy pres component, by which any funds not claimed by class members would be paid to two non-profit privacy entities.
