Consumer Sues Lenovo (Canada) Inc. for Breach of Contract and Breach of Privacy Over Malicious Software

A class action lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages on behalf of Canadian consumers who purchased Lenovo computers that came with pre-installed Superfish software ("Superfish") was launched March 11, 2015 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

As stated in the claim, "Superfish is potentially dangerous and may allow anyone on a Wi-Fi network to hijack the user's browser and collect his or her bank credentials, passwords, and other highly sensitive information."

The lawsuit alleges that Lenovo breached its contracts with consumers and invaded their privacy by pre-installing the Superfish software on several models of computers that were shipped into Canada between September, 2014 and January, 2015. The affected models may include:

• G Series: G410, G510, G710, G40-70, G50-70, G40-30, G50-30, G40-45, G50-45, G40-80
• U Series: U330P, U430P, U330Touch, U430Touch, U530Touch
• Y Series: Y430P, Y40-70, Y50-70, Y40-80, Y70-70
• Z Series: Z40-75, Z50-75, Z40-70, Z50-70, Z70-80
• S Series: S310, S410, S40-70, S415, S415Touch, S435, S20-30, S20-30Touch
• Flex Series: Flex2 14D, Flex2 15D, Flex2 14, Flex2 15, Flex2 Pro, Flex 10
• MIIX Series: MIIX2-8, MIIX2-10, MIIX2-11, MIIX 3 1030
• YOGA Series: YOGA2Pro-13, YOGA2-13, YOGA2-11, YOGA3 Pro
• E Series: E10-30
• Edge Series: Lenovo Edge 15

The action is brought under Ontario's Class Proceedings Act, 1992 and seeks to represent all Canadian consumers who purchased computers that were shipped with Superfish pre-installed.

This case is important as it will define the scope of the obligations that electronic device manufacturers ("EDMs") have to consumers where the EDMs engage in the practice of pre-installing potentially harmful software on the devices they sell.

A copy of the court filed statement of claim is available at: https://sotosclassactions.com/class-actions/lenovo/