After a health insurance plan told members that one of its employees had emailed a spreadsheet containing their sensitive health information to other plan members, the members sued on a variety of Idaho state law theories. The district court dismissed their claims, holding that the unauthorized disclosure of private information alone or the
loss of the benefit of their bargain could satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement for standing.
Last week, the Ninth Circuit reversed. Writing for a unanimous panel, the Ninth Circuit’s newest member, Judge Tung, discussed the common law roots of the harm of “breach of confidence,” and holding that the harm alleged by the plaintiffs in this case sufficiently resembled that common law harm to provide a basis for standing,
