Ignacio Cofone

Privacy class actions are undertheorized. Courts are increasingly being called upon to adjudicate privacy class actions arising from events as wide as corporate business practices to external events such as hacking. But courts struggle with how to constitute and assess privacy harm throughout different stages in litigation – to determine standing, class certification, and compensation. Consequently, despite the importance of class actions for people’s access to justice and ensuring corporate compliance, class actions success in these two aims is hindered. This Article provides a framework for distinguishing which class actions involve harm to people’s privacy interests that can and should be grouped in a class. In doing so, it provides courts with a needed framework to assess these claims. This Article’s approach to privacy class actions has consequences for corporate liability and consumer redress for privacy breaches.