US Lawyers Fire Up Privacy Class Action Accusing Lenovo of Bulk Data Transfers To China
Source: Slashdot
Lawsuit Overview
A US law firm has accused Lenovo of violating Justice Department strictures about the bulk transfer of data to foreign adversaries, namely China. The case was filed by Almeida Law Group on behalf of San Francisco‑based Spencer Christy, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated and centers on the Data Security Program regulations implemented by the DOJ last year. According to the suit, these regulations were “implemented to prevent adversarial countries from acquiring large quantities of behavioral data which could be used to surveil, analyze, or exploit American citizens’ behavior.”
The complaint states the DOJ rule “makes clear that sending American consumers’ information to Chinese entities through automated advertising systems and associated databases with the requisite controls is prohibited.” The case specifies that the threshold for “covered personal identifiers” is 100,000 US persons or more and lists a range of potential identifiers, including:
- Government and financial account numbers
- IMEIs
- MAC addresses
- SIM numbers
- Demographic data
- Advertising IDs