Fourth Circuit Decision Seizes Middle Ground On The Issue Of Standing In Data Breach Cases

In the latest decision concerning standing in data breach cases, the Fourth Circuit has vacated a district court's dismissal and reinstated putative class action data breach litigation against the National Board of Examiners in Optometry Inc. ("NBEO"). In Hutton v. National Board of Examiners in Optometry, Inc., the court ruled that the plaintiffs alleged sufficient injury to meet the Article III standing requirement by virtue of hackers' theft and misuse of plaintiffs personally identifiable information ("PII"), notwithstanding the absence of any allegation that the misuse had resulted in pecuniary loss to the plaintiffs. In so ruling, the Fourth Circuit struck a middle course on the question of when misuse of sensitive PII results in a sufficient injury to confer standing to sue in federal court.