Photo of Aaron Francis

Aaron Francis

Subscribe to Aaron Francis's Posts

Aaron Francis is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Litigation Group.

Aaron's practice focuses on complex civil litigations, internal and regulatory investigations, and arbitrations, covering a range of types of disputes, including cybersecurity, commercial contracts, and securities.  He also advises, counsels, and represents various pro bono clients, including non-profit organizations on issues related to harassment and discrimination, incarcerated survivors of domestic violence in criminal appeals, and multiple other entities in civil rights litigation.

Aaron is a member of Proskauer’s Black Lawyers Affinity Group.

Contact:Read more about Aaron Francis

Repurposing old laws to challenge new technologies has become the new normal in the privacy space. Plaintiffs continue to bring a kaleidoscope of privacy claims against companies in the tech age, reviving laws like the California Invasion of Privacy Act of 1994 (“CIPA”), Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”), Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, and Arizona Telephone, Utility, and Communication Service Records Act.

  • There has been a recent surge of privacy class action lawsuits under the Arizona Telephone, Utility, and Communication Service Records Act targeting the use of common email marketing analytics technologies.
  • Defendants are asserting standard defenses including lack of Article III standing as well as challenging the 2007 Arizona law’s applicability to email tracking pixels.

While French skincare company L’Occitane (the “Company”) successfully thwarted a mass arbitration effort by plaintiffs’ firm Zimmerman Reed and approximately 3,000 customers (the “Claimants”), the Southern District of California Court presiding over the matter indicated that the Company’s case against them was on the verge of dismissal. L’Occitane v. Zimmerman Reed, et al., No. 2:24-cv-01103 (C.D. Cal. April 15, 2024).

A federal judge in the Northern District of California delivered a blow to a potential class action lawsuit against Google over its ad auction practices. The lawsuit, which allegedly involved tens of millions of Google account holders, claimed Google’s practices in its real-time bidding (RTB) auctions violated users’ privacy rights. But U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers declined to certify the class of consumers, pointing to deficiencies in the plaintiffs’ proposed class definition.