Legal Alert | Wiretap Laws in the United States
Anti-Wiretap Class Actions Against Website Operators Surge, but Proper Consent Can Reduce Risk
Webinar Recording – Assessing the Surge in Wiretap Litigation
Is Edward Snowden a Whistleblower?
Rajaratnam Judge: Wiretaps in Insider Trading Cases are "Radical"
We continue to learn more about the courts’ perspective on claims under the California Information Privacy Act (“CIPA”). Last month, in Moody v. C2 Educational Systems Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Central District of...more
Readers of this blog may recall our prior piece about recent lawsuits alleging that the use of tracking software on certain websites violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). While earlier lawsuits focused on...more
In 2023, we discussed the uptick in data privacy and cybersecurity class action lawsuits; as expected, this trend has persisted throughout 2024 as plaintiffs continue to test new theories of liability and the boundaries of...more
Readers of this blog are familiar with the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”), and the systematic transformation of CIPA wiretapping cases since their inception. Applying CIPA, a Washington State federal court...more
Businesses operating public facing websites that employ data analytics software to track users’ website interactions must be aware of a novel use of the California Information Privacy Act (“CIPA”) that has taken the...more
As an onslaught of recent class actions allege, companies may be liable for eavesdropping and wiretapping based on the use of common analytics software on their platforms. For instance, in California, plaintiffs have filed...more
California continues to grapple with a significant surge in lawsuits and arbitration demands aimed at businesses operating websites employing technology to monitor online activities. These cases hinge on the California...more
California businesses are experiencing a tsunami of demands and complaints alleging class action status that applies the well-established 1960’s California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) to the internet’s new technology. CIPA...more
A new species of website privacy litigation has taken hold in 2024, based on arcane provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) that restrict law enforcement’s use of pen register or trap and trace devices...more
In the latest example of privacy laws being stretched to fit new digital technologies, plaintiffs have begun to file a flurry of suits alleging that retailers are using pen register and trap-and-trace software to illegally...more
Knowing how consumers behave while on a website can provide businesses with valuable information. Frequently businesses employ “session replay” tools to analyze what users do on their website. “Session replay” is software...more
Numerous new website technologies and tools allow companies to more effectively interact with their customers. These include chatbots, session recording software, tracking pixels (snippets of code that can be used to identify...more
What You Need to Know in a Minute or Less - Media reports, as well as a recent report prepared by various US senators and representatives, have focused attention on the use of pixel tools on the websites of major tax filing...more
Joe Alves filed a class-action complaint against BJ’s Wholesale Club, alleging that BJ’s uses computer code, called Session Replay Code (SRC), to secretly record consumer activity on BJ’s website. Alves claims that BJ’s...more
What You Need To Know In A Minute Or Less - Throughout this series, we have discussed the recent surge of session replay lawsuits—particularly in Pennsylvania, California, and Florida—and the potential for these cases to...more
Some common digital marketing techniques used by PEOs have become the recent target of data security litigation – and you should consider taking mitigating measures if your PEO deploys these strategies to put yourself in a...more
Businesses with consumer-facing websites face a bit of a legal “Wild West” with regard to the collection of data at the moment. Most businesses collect some degree of consumer or site visitor data using cookies, web beacons,...more
What You Need to Know in a Minute or Less - While session replay class-actions are not new, a recent change in law has triggered a surge of lawsuits in Pennsylvania. The claims raise significant questions about the scope of...more
What You Need to Know in a Minute or Less - For most businesses today, a website is a necessary tool for interacting with customers and marketing products and services. Businesses know the importance of understanding how...more
2022 has seen a new wave of class action lawsuits targeting companies that use technology to track consumers’ interfaces on their websites. These lawsuits generally allege that the use of technologies such as session replay...more
The case of Popa v. Harriet Carter Gifts, Inc. “began with a quest for pet stairs.” Plaintiff Ashley Popa searched Harriet Carter Gifts’ website, added pet stairs to her cart, but never completed the purchase. During her...more
Recently, US companies are experiencing a surging wave of consumer class action lawsuits alleging businesses and their software providers are violating state anti-wiretapping statutes and invading consumers’ privacy rights...more
In the past several months, plaintiff’s lawyers have filed dozens of class action lawsuits under state wiretap laws, some of which provide for statutory damages of $5000 per occurrence or more. The lawsuits focus on the use...more
Attention Lead Generators. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that use of certain technologies on a websites in order to track and record web session data before obtaining affirmative consent may be a...more
An often-stated truth is that you shouldn’t access the email of others. Here, “others” means the person you have divorced, are now divorcing, or plan to divorce in the not too distant future. No matter how often this is said,...more