The Increasing Settlement Costs of Mass Privacy Breaches

Data-breach class actions have proliferated in Canada since the seminal 2012 Jones v Tsige Ontario Court of Appeal decision created the privacy tort of intrusion upon seclusion. Many of these cases are now settling — daunting trial costs being the main incentive. This paper examines six privacy-breach class action settlements that have taken place in the past two years; these settlements suggest defendants are facing increasing costs associated with mass losses of personal information.