Samsung to Respond Soon to Motion to Move 9 Class Actions to Calif.

Responses are due Nov. 2, replies by Nov. 9, to an Oct. 7 motion before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation by plaintiffs in nine class actions against Samsung to transfer the cases to U.S. District Court in San Francisco and consolidate them under the watch of District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley (see 2210140042), said a text order Wednesday from panel clerk John Nichols (MDL case number 3055). All the class actions, with additional “tag-along” complaints expected, accuse Samsung of negligence in the data breach this summer that exposed to hackers the personal identifiable information (PII) of Samsung account holders, including first and last names, postal addresses, precise geolocation data, email addresses and phone numbers. The consequences of the data breach are “severe,” because the PII “has since been publicly leaked online, which has allowed for digital and potential physical attacks” against all the plaintiffs and members of the potential class, said the motion before the judicial panel.