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ARTICLE · 10 AUGUST 2023

Another Wave Of California Privacy Suits—Deanonymization As "Doxing"

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In March 2023, the White House published its National Strategy to Advance Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics. Buried in the report was a quiet, but notable, concern...

United StatesPrivacy
Jason Stiehl
Jason Stiehl
Helen Ogunyanwo
Helen Ogunyanwo
Jacob Canter
Jacob Canter

In March 2023, the White House published itsNational Strategy to Advance Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics. Buried in the report was a quiet, but notable, concern related to the possibility of deanonymizing a consumer due to "insufficient disassociability".SeeReport, pg. 6. A new wave of class action lawsuits in California-already over three dozen at the time of writing-now seeks to turn a spotlight on these practices, claiming that companies are using "grey market" data to match user patterns with personal identifiable information (PII).

For example, a complaint recently filed in California Superior Court-Gabriela Hernandez v. MRI Software LLC, 23-stcv-14389-opens with allegations that online anonymity promotes the free exchange of ideas and reinforces cybersecurity. It then contrasts these virtues with a process it calls "de-anonymization," which it alleges "involves cross-referencing anonymized data with 'commercially available information' ("CAI")

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