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"
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
A Pennsylvania federal court recently granted a retailer’s motion to dismiss claims that its use of “spy pixels” in its commercial e-mail constitutes illegal wiretapping. In Hartley v. Urban Outfitters, Inc., No....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
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
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
Central District of California dismisses lawsuit alleging that a third-party’s interception of communications over a website’s live chat feature violated California’s wiretapping and eavesdropping prohibitions. ...more
In the privacy world, pixels, cookies, and tracking technologies get all the attention these days. Plaintiffs and regulators alike have been working to persuade courts nationwide that the presence of third-party tracking...more
On May 9, 2024, Paul Hastings participated in a panel on litigation trends and risk management at this spring’s Privacy+Security Forum. Panelists included Carter Simpson (Partner, Paul Hastings) and Matt Gardner (Senior...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
In 2023, we saw the continued proliferation of class action lawsuits filed by “consumer watchdog” plaintiffs under state wiretapping laws, particularly the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), against website operators...more
Keypoint: Courts continue to issue conflicting decisions in wiretapping cases while one court has expanded who may be considered a “video tape service provider” under the VPPA. Welcome to the eleventh installment in our...more
Keypoint: Courts resolved six motions to dismiss wiretapping claims based on session replay technology in January, while two VPPA decisions highlight balance struck by courts. A new privacy litigation theory based on “pen...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
Real estate businesses frequently operate multiple websites. These may include corporate websites, websites for each of their properties, and websites for their apps and ancillary service offerings. To maximize the...more
Welcome to the ninth installment in our monthly data privacy litigation report, which we are releasing just after the New Year. We prepare these reports to provide updates on how courts in the United States have handled...more
Over a hundred cases are pending from the wave of privacy class actions that commenced last year alleging violations of state wiretap statutes based on use of website session replay, chatbot and pixel technologies. ...more
The proliferation of class action lawsuit and arbitration claim filings under the Federal Wiretap Act and various state wiretap statutes has recently grown beyond California, as other states are now beginning to see more...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
Plaintiffs look to the past to take action against modern web tracking - As states rapidly enact new consumer privacy legislation, businesses have been working tirelessly to comply with extensive new data protection...more
Keypoint: The past two months have seen many courts dismiss privacy claims as judges appear to be more critical of plaintiffs’ theories while other judges have allowed cases to proceed past the motion to dismiss stage....more
California was the first US state with a comprehensive privacy law the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), 4 more states followed with omnibus privacy laws effective this year and state legislatures passed 8 more this...more
The April 18, 2022 Trending Law Blog post discussed how, in Facebook, Inc. v. State of New Jersey, the New Jersey Appellate Division held that a communications data warrant, rather than a wiretap order, was required for law...more
In this third installment on the enforcement of U.S. consumer data privacy laws, we focus on the role of private litigants. Following our discussions of state and federal government enforcement, this post focuses on the third...more
Keypoint: June 2023 maintained a trend of mostly favorable outcomes for defendants as courts continue to grant motions to dismiss in session replay and VPPA cases. This is the fifth installment in our monthly data privacy...more