In Zurich Amer. Ins. Co. v. Sony Corp., Index No. 651982/2011 (N.Y. Supr. Ct. Feb. 21, 2014), the New York trial court held that Sony Corporation was not entitled to insurance coverage under general liability policies for the multitude of data breach lawsuits filed against it in connection with the Sony’s PlayStation data breach. The Court reasoned that because none of the lawsuits alleged that Sony had been the entity publishing material, the lawsuits did not allege “oral or written publication, in any manner, of material that violates a person’s right of privacy” to satisfy the definition for “personal and advertising injury” under Coverage B of the policies.
Plenty has been written about this holding. However, comparably little attention has been given to other conclusions rendered by the Court in its decision. Arguably, given Sony’s notoriety, and the forthcoming ISO data breach exclusions for general liability policies, these other holdings could have a broader and more long-lasting impact in privacy litigation than the main holding that has caused such an uproar.