Ivey et al. v. Department of Justice for the State of California

Ivey et al. v. Department of Justice for the State of California

Superior Court for the State of California, County of Los Angeles, Case No. 22STCV21530
 

You may be eligible to receive Credit Monitoring Services from a lawsuit (“Lawsuit”) against the Department of Justice For The State Of California (“CA DOJ”) for alleged privacy violations.  On June 27, 2022, CA DOJ published the Firearms Dashboard—an interactive dashboard containing aggregated, anonymized firearms-related data—on its OpenJustice website.
The same day the Firearms Dashboard was published on OpenJustice, CA DOJ was alerted that confidential personal data might be publicly accessible, and an internal effort was undertaken to assess whether this was true. Early the next morning, on June 28, 2022, CA DOJ determined that confidential personal data in an underlying dataset that was used to create the Firearms Dashboard, but that was not intended for public dissemination, had been inadvertently accessible to the public on OpenJustice (“Data Incident”). CA DOJ took the Firearms Dashboard offline and later that same day, took the entire OpenJustice website offline.
The Action was filed by two Plaintiffs (the “Settlement Class Representatives”) on behalf of all owners of carry concealed weapon (“CCW”) permits who may have been affected by the Data Incident. The proposed Settlement is a Class Settlement, entitling Settlement Class Members to Credit Monitoring Services and requiring that CA DOJ maintain certain business practices for a specified time period. 
The Court has preliminarily approved the proposed Settlement and approved this Notice. The Court has not yet decided whether to grant Final Approval. Your legal rights are affected whether you act or not act. Read this Notice carefully. You will be deemed to have carefully read and understood it. At the Final Approval Hearing, the Court will decide whether to finally approve the Settlement, to award incentive payments to the two Settlement Class Representatives and payment of legal fees and expenses to Plaintiffs’ attorneys (“Plaintiffs’ Counsel”). The Court will also decide whether to enter a judgment that requires CA DOJ to provide the benefits under the Settlement and requires Settlement Class Members to give up their rights to assert certain claims against CA DOJ. If you applied for a CCW permit and your personally identifiable information (“PII”) was made accessible in the Data Incident you have two basic options under the Settlement: 

 

(1)    Do Nothing. You don’t have to do anything to participate in the proposed Settlement and be eligible for Credit Monitoring Services. As a participating Settlement Class Member, though, you will give up your right to assert claims against CA DOJ in connection with the Data Incident.

(2)    Opt-Out of the Settlement. You can exclude yourself from the Class Settlement (opt-out) by submitting a written Opt-Out Request or otherwise notifying the Settlement Administrator in writing. If you opt-out of the Settlement, you will not receive Credit Monitoring Services. You will, however, preserve your right to personally pursue claims against CA DOJ in connection with the Data Incident.
 

SUMMARY OF YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT