A federal court in the Southern District of New York recently interpreted the VPPA as it relates to data privacy concerns in the modern area. In Carter et al v. Scripps Networks, LLC, the home and lifestyle network giant HGTV fended off a VPPA class action, after the court found that the plaintiffs were not “consumers” within the meaning of the Act. 

But what makes the VPPA so special for plaintiffs in recent years (with more than 100 claims filed since 2022 alone), and how can companies prepare and respond?

Law targets video stores

The VPPA was born after the video rental history of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork was leaked to the media. (His history was innocuous.) The law prohibits a “video tape service provider” from disclosing data identifying individuals’ requested or obtained video materials. Because “video tape service provider” encompasses purveyors of “audio-visual materials” similar to video tapes, plaintiffs have broadly interpreted the definition to include website or mobile app providers that offer videos on their platforms, such as HGTV or CNN.

Meta’s Pixel and third-party sharing

Data sharing on websites often comes in the form of cookies and code imbedded on websites that tracks the activity of website users. For instance, Facebook/Meta’s Pixel is code embedded on the websites of several companies that tracks certain activity of website users. Some plaintiffs allege that the information is transmitted to Facebook/Meta, which can then link the information  to the users’ Facebook accounts. This can include information about a user’s video watching habits, which they argue violates the VPPA. 

Carter et al v. Scripps Networks, LLC

In Carter et al v. Scripps Networks, LLC, subscribers to the HGTV.com newsletter brought a class action against HGTV, arguing that HGTV was collecting and disclosing their HGTV.com video-streaming activities to Facebook (via the Meta Pixel) in violation of the VPPA. 

Like many other recent VPPA cases, Carter turned on whether the newsletter subscribers were "consumers" under the VPPA. To file a VPPA claim, an individual must be a "renter, purchaser, or subscriber of goods or services." The plaintiffs, who were not subscribers to HGTV’s television offerings, argued that their subscription to HGTV’s newsletter made them “consumers” within the meaning of the VPPA. The court disagreed, finding that simply opting in to a newsletter does not make someone the type of subscriber who is a “consumer” for VPPA purposes.

In determining whether an individual is a VPPA “consumer,” courts typically consider whether there was a payment, registration, commitment, delivery, expressed association, or access to restricted content. According to the court in Carter et al v. Scripps Networks, LLC, merely subscribing to a newsletter is not enough.

Avoiding VPPA litigation

With VPPA suits on the rise, companies should assess whether their websites or mobile apps put them at risk for a VPPA suit. Here are some questions to ask:

• What cookies are used on the website or mobile app?
• Is Meta Pixel on the website?
• Is the video content on the website or mobile app freely available?
• Do users have to create an account or subscribe to view videos?
• Do users get access to any additional or enhanced content after signing up for any service or newsletter?
• Do users have to provide personal information to get access to the video or, more generally, to the website or mobile app?
• Do users receive notice of the company’s data sharing practices?

Court decisions in VPPA cases are not consistent, but we continue to monitor.