Litigation

The process of taking legal action through courts to resolve disputes, including lawsuits, claims, and legal proceedings. Privacy litigation includes data breach class actions, privacy rights enforcement suits, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and contractual disputes involving data handling. Privacy laws increasingly provide private rights of action allowing individuals to sue for violations—CCPA allows suits for certain data breaches, GDPR grants compensation rights, and various state laws permit privacy litigation. Litigation risks include monetary damages, injunctions requiring changes to practices, legal fees, discovery burdens revealing business practices, reputational harm, and precedents affecting industry. Organizations should implement compliance programs reducing litigation risk, maintain cyber liability insurance covering legal costs, respond appropriately to claims, consider early settlement for meritorious claims, and learn from privacy litigation trends. Monitor privacy litigation developments to understand enforcement priorities and emerging theories of liability.