LinkedIn beats "BrowserGate" lawsuits over scanning users' Chrome extensions
Judge tosses lawsuits, says plaintiffs didn't allege any real privacy violation.
LinkedIn successfully avoided two lawsuits alleging it scanned users' browser extensions for private information. Judge Vince Chhabria, presiding in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, dismissed the cases, citing the plaintiffs' lack of proper standing to sue. The ruling, issued on Tuesday, left the plaintiffs with the option to amend their complaints, but Chhabria expressed doubt they could form a viable claim.
Both Nicholas Farrell and Jeff Ganan separately sued LinkedIn in April, seeking to represent themselves and other affected users. Ganan's attorney, J.R. Howell, is now considering whether to pursue the claims in a California state court with different standing requirements or to appeal the US district court decision in the Ninth Circuit.
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