Three months into the pandemic here, California is the hotspot for COVID-19 consumer class actions, with well over 50 actions filed through May 2020. Plaintiffs recognize the lower burden under California’s consumer protection statutes; and California’s brand new, and plaintiff-friendly, cybersecurity law beckons as the use of electronic platforms from home proliferates during the pandemic.

In many cases, these pandemic-related claims under California’s cybersecurity and consumer protection statutes will be ripe for dismissal before discovery and class certification proceedings. In this two-part article, we consider the new cybersecurity statute; new rulings on key issues; and available defenses at the motion to dismiss stage. Some defenses are applicable across the board; others are statute-specific.

A. Cybersecurity Law.