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"
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
Topics that we often discuss on this blog are the use of third-party tracking tools and the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). Less discussed of late, however, is the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) which,...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
Yahoo’s ConnectID is a cookieless identity solution that allows advertisers and publishers to personalize, measure, and perform ad campaigns by leveraging first-party data and 1-to-1 consumer relationships. ConnectID uses...more
While readers of this blog are familiar with the proliferation of California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”) wiretapping claims, our readers may be less familiar with CIPA-related GET Request claims. Below, we explain what...more
Generative AI continued to be a hot topic for privacy-related litigation in 2024. In the US, companies using and deploying this technology saw themselves subject to lawsuits under various state and federal theories of...more
Beware of demand letters from plaintiffs’ attorneys for allegations of illegal use of pen registers, trap and trace pixels, and search bar pixels—why? This “trap and trace” litigation is a growing trend for plaintiffs’...more
The first class action complaint was filed under Washington’s My Health My Data Act (“MHMDA”) on February 10, 2025, more than a year after the law’s passage. When the law passed in April 2023, MHMDA was novel for its broad...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
It took some time, but we officially have the first complaint filed alleging violations of the Washington My Health, My Data Act (“MHMDA”). The complaint, filed February 10 in the U.S. District Court Western District of...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
It is hard to believe that we are starting the 25th year of the 21st century. The rapid evolution that technology, privacy and data security have undergone these last 25 years is mindbending. Yet, as we enter 2025, it still...more
Claims involving the alleged collection and use of consumer data continued to drive trends in privacy class actions and mass arbitrations in 2024. Biometrics Litigation - The Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act...more
Some businesses might be surprised to learn that digital wiretapping litigation claims are one of today’s fastest-growing compliance risks, with over 1,560 lawsuits filed in 28 states since a groundbreaking 2022 decision...more
Readers of this blog may recall a recent favorable decision handed down by Massachusetts State’s highest court in which it found that Massachusetts Wiretap Act claims (“MWA”) do not extend to consumer interactions with...more
Publications & Advisories - November 2024 – Kathleen Benway, Jennifer Everett, Alysa Austin, and Kristen Bartolotta published “Federal Trade Commission’s Updated Health Breach Notification Rule Is Now in Effect” in Employee...more
In a critical new decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has confirmed that the state’s anti-wiretapping statute does not extend to website tracking technologies. In Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, the Court...more
October has offered valuable insights for companies managing privacy obligations related to user tracking, with courts issuing opinions on various wiretap laws and the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) in the context of...more
Perhaps no use case better exemplifies the rapidly evolving privacy law landscape in the US than the legal framework surrounding companies’ use of cookies, pixels, and other web trackers. Gone are the days where marketing...more
Keypoint: Massachusetts’ highest court ruled the use of software that tracks users’ activity on its website does not violate the state’s Wiretap Act, which was intended to prevent the recording or interception of...more
Readers of this blog are aware of the surge in consumer privacy lawsuits alleging that the use of third-party tracking technology to collect consumer data while visiting a website constitutes illegal wiretapping. While most...more
Businesses that use website tracking software to monitor activity for marketing purposes must comply with a growing list of state laws – but does that include a nearly 60-year-old Massachusetts law requiring consent to record...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
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
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