The ‘Long Arm’ of CIPA and Its Newfound Pen-Trap Claims
On April 29, 2025, the Senate Public Safety Committee voted 6-0 to advance legislation that would exempt processing of personal information for a commercial business purpose from coverage by the California Invasion of Privacy...more
Businesses just received some good news when a federal court dismissed a California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) claim that aimed to expand the reach of the state’s wiretapping law to cover internet communications. The...more
Courts across the country are becoming skeptical of data breach and web tracking claims that assert theoretical privacy violations without alleging any actual injury to the plaintiffs. Recent decisions underscore that courts...more
In a big win for businesses, a California federal court just held that a “tester” plaintiff – someone who visits websites for purposes of initiating litigation – cannot bring a claim under the California Invasion of Privacy...more
Recent months have seen a dramatic increase in demand letters and litigation targeting websites and mobile apps. These claims often allege privacy violations stemming from the use of various technologies such as chat bots,...more
The California Invasion of Privacy Act continues to be a focal point for privacy litigation, particularly concerning website tracking practices. A recent case, Gabrielli v. Insider Inc. sheds new light on whether collecting...more
Welcome to the twentieth installment in our monthly data privacy litigation report. We prepare these reports to provide updates on how courts in the United States have handled emerging data privacy trends. After our expansive...more
Two recent court decisions have provided businesses with long-awaited clarity on the reach of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) – and could begin to redefine digital privacy litigation for the better. Two separate...more
Welcome to the nineteenth installment in our monthly data privacy litigation report. We prepare these reports to provide updates on how courts in the United States have handled emerging data privacy trends. We are covering...more
In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind decision, a California federal court just granted class certification in a wiretapping claim brought against a website operator that used third-party technology to track users’...more
Keypoint: California district courts continue to split over whether “knowledge” is required to plead liability under Section 631(a)’s fourth prong while two decisions show courts taking different approaches to VPPA claims at...more
Businesses continue to be subjected to a steady stream of consumer class action lawsuits alleging improper collection or disclosure of information from their websites. A variety of laws and legal claims are used to support...more
These lawsuits make generalized allegations that business websites use software or tools to collect various types of device and browsing information from website visitors and that businesses then share such information with...more
Keypoint: Courts have started to issue Pixel-based wiretapping decisions, the Seventh Circuit weighs in on when a manufacturer can be forced to pay arbitration fees, and three courts showed different approaches to dismissing...more
Keypoint: Courts reject personal jurisdiction arguments and suggest the Shopify decision will be overturned; Courts continue to show differing approaches to VPPA claims at the pleading stage with a large VPPA class action...more
Data privacy-related lawsuits have skyrocketed in recent years. Federal courts saw over 900 data privacy dockets in 2020 – but witnessed a surge to 1,767 dockets in 2023. At the halfway point in 2024, federal court data...more
Readers of this blog likely know about the wave of consumer privacy litigation directed at online companies’ collection of consumer data. A litany of these cases are brought by Swigart Law Group, APC (“Swigart Law”), a law...more
Keypoint: The Central District of California issued several wiretapping decisions in May while two decisions on the VPPA illustrate how claims fail or succeed at the pleading stage. Welcome to the fourteenth installment in...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
If you do not know what a pixel is, you may have a problem and should read on. This article will explain the recent trend of “pixel litigation” and suggest some ways to help companies avoid liability and avoid becoming...more
Keypoint: The Central District of California issues a major victory for website owners facing CIPA-arbitration demands, two decisions address whether a plaintiff consented as a defense to wiretapping claims, three courts in...more
Join us for a discussion on the best practices for navigating the evolving landscape of dispute resolution for online businesses. We’ll dissect the latest on critical issues like user agreements and privacy disclosures, CIPA...more
This is the eighth installment in our monthly data privacy litigation reports to provide updates on how courts in the United States have handled emerging data privacy trends. In this post, we look at privacy litigation...more
Does your company use tracking or session replay software to understand how users interact with your website? If so, you may be the next target of a new wave of class actions sweeping across Florida and California. The...more
Recently we have seen a slew of class action filings under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). CIPA is an older privacy law, associated with eavesdropping and wire fraud, not to be confused with the California...more