Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Pearson Simon & Warshaw, LLP Announce Proposed Settlement of Carrier IQ, Inc. Consumer Privacy Litigation

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Apr 05, 2016, 06:27 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Pearson Simon & Warshaw, LLP regarding the Consumer Privacy Litigation:

LEGAL NOTICE
United States District Court
Northern District Of California
San Francisco Division

In re Carrier IQ, Inc. Consumer Privacy Litigation, Case No. 12-md-02330-EMC

If you purchased, owned, or were an authorized user of a mobile device manufactured by HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Pantech, or Samsung, with service provided by AT&T, Cricket, Sprint, or T-Mobile at any time from December 1, 2007 through March 1, 2016, you could get a payment from a class action settlement. No one knows how many claims will be submitted. Please note that if there is a high volume of claims, this could result in small-value cash payments or no payments to eligible class members.

WHAT IS THIS LAWSUIT ABOUT?

This is a class action lawsuit concerning software developed by Carrier iQ and installed on millions of U.S. mobile devices. Plaintiffs have alleged that the software, in addition to gathering data about cellular service quality, intercepted and transmitted private communications, content, and data on these devices in violation of the Federal Wiretap Act, various state privacy and wiretap acts, various state consumer protection acts, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and the implied warranty of merchantability under various state laws.

Defendants are Carrier iQ, Inc.; HTC America, Inc.; HTC Corporation; Huawei Device USA, Inc.; LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc.; LG Electronics, Inc.; Motorola Mobility LLC; Pantech Wireless, Inc.; Samsung Electronics America, Inc.; and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Defendants deny the allegations and claims described above.

The parties have agreed to settle the lawsuit. The Court has preliminarily approved the settlement and directed the publication of this notice. Read on for a summary of the settlement and your rights in the litigation.

WHO IS A SETTLEMENT CLASS MEMBER?

All persons in the United States who, from December 1, 2007 through March 1, 2016, purchased, owned, or were an Authorized User of any Covered Mobile Device. Authorized User means a person authorized by name for the Covered Mobile Device on the AT&T Mobility, Cricket, Sprint, or T-Mobile account for the Covered Mobile Device during the class period. Authorized User also means a person who, during the Class Period, purchased or owned a Covered Mobile Device identified on the Wireless Provider account of another person (such as the Wireless Provider account of a family member or spouse) by the telephone number assigned to it. Covered Mobile Devices include certain phones and tablets manufactured by HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Pantech Wireless, or Samsung. For the detailed class definition and for a list of Covered Mobile Devices, please see the full Notice available at www.carrieriqsettlement.com.

WHAT ARE THE KEY SETTLEMENT TERMS?

Cash Payments: Defendants have agreed to create a $9 million Settlement Fund that will cover payments to Settlement Class Members who file a valid claim ("Eligible Class Members"). Subject to Court approval, the following amounts will be paid from the Settlement Fund: Service awards (up to $5,000 each) to each of the 17 Class Representatives and one former Named Plaintiff, attorneys' fees (up to $2.25 million), any actual expenses and out of pocket costs incurred by Class Counsel and the Court-appointed Executive Committee (up to $160,000), settlement administration expenses and the cost of Notice to Settlement Class members (currently estimated at $999,855, subject to change based on the number of claims received), and taxes, if any. The remaining Net Settlement Fund will be available for cash payments to Eligible Class Members on a pro rata basis. If the pro-rated amount and high volume of eligible claims make it economically infeasible to distribute payments to class members, then, subject to Court approval, the Net Settlement Fund will be distributed equally to three cy pres recipients: the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and CyLab Usable Privacy and Security Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. If this occurs, Eligible Class Members will not receive any monetary compensation.

Injunctive Relief and Error Remediation: As part of the parties' settlement, defendant Carrier iQ agreed to provide certain non-monetary relief, including enhanced privacy safeguards on handsets running its software and remediating a software bug that had created the potential for data collection during error conditions. Defendant Carrier iQ has since sold its assets to AT&T Mobility IP, LLC, but it warrants that it performed as agreed prior to selling the software assets at issue. For more detail, please see the Amended Settlement Agreement available at www.carrieriqsettlement.com.

WHO REPRESENTS THE SETTLEMENT CLASS?

The Court has appointed the law firms of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Pearson, Simon & Warshaw, LLP to represent the Settlement Class. These lawyers are called Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS?

Receive a Cash Payment. If you are a member of the Settlement Class, you may file a claim online (including by mobile device) or by U.S. Mail, email, or fax. You must submit a claim form to be eligible to receive a cash payment. To file online, visit www.carrieriqsettlement.com. You can obtain a copy of the claim form by downloading it from the settlement website, calling 1-877-368-7154, emailing [email protected], or sending a request to Carrier IQ Settlement Administrator, c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC, P.O. Box 30201, College Station, TX 77842-3201. Completed claim forms may be mailed, e-mailed, or faxed to

Carrier IQ Settlement Administrator
c/o Gilardi & Co. LLC
P.O. Box 30201
College Station, TX 77842-3201
[email protected]
Fax: 1-415-256-9756

If you file your claim online, by fax, or by email, your completed claim must be received by June 4, 2016. If you file by mail, your completed claim must be postmarked by June 4, 2016.

Exclude Yourself. If you do not want to remain a Settlement Class Member, you may exclude yourself from the lawsuit by following the instructions found in the full Notice at www.carrieriqsettlement.com. If you exclude yourself, you will not receive any settlement payment, but you will retain your right to sue the Defendants for any claims you may have, and you will not be bound by any Court orders or judgments. Your exclusion request must be submitted by June 4, 2016.

File an Objection. If you are a Settlement Class Member, you can object to the settlement if you do not like any part of it. You may also ask to speak at the Final Approval Hearing. Please see the full Notice at www.carrieriqsettlement.com for detailed instructions on how to file an objection and file a Notice of Intent to Appear at the hearing. Your objection and Notice of Intent to Appear must be filed with the Court no later than June 4, 2016. Even if you file an objection, if you want to remain eligible to receive a payment from the settlement, you must also file a valid claim. If you don't file a claim, you will receive no cash payment if the settlement is approved.

FINAL SETTLEMENT APPROVAL

The Court will have a Final Approval Hearing at 1:30 p.m. on July 28, 2016 at the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, Courtroom 5 – 17th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102 to determine whether to approve the Settlement and Plaintiffs' application for fees, costs, and expenses, and the service awards to the Class Representatives and former Named Plaintiff. The hearing date or time may be changed by the Court without notice to the Settlement Class. Please check www.carrieriqsettlement.com for updates.

HOW CAN YOU GET MORE INFORMATION?

This notice summarizes the proposed settlement. For the precise terms and conditions of the settlement, please see the Amended Settlement Agreement available at www.carrieriqsettlement.com. You may also review the Amended Settlement Agreement and other court documents by accessing the Court docket in this case through the Court's Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays.

For questions about the settlement or the claims process, you may contact the Settlement Administrator at 1-877-368-7154, [email protected], or www.carrieriqsettlement.com.

SOURCE Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP