Could New Privacy Law Coalition Help Curb California Wiretapping Litigation? What Businesses Need to Know About CIPA Reform
A broad coalition of California businesses, nonprofits, healthcare providers, and community organizations formally launched a campaign this week to push for reform of the state law being weaponized against businesses that use standard website tools. The Reform CIPA Coalition is backing the revival of legislative efforts to limit the law’s scope and put a halt to the trend that has led to thousands of lawsuits and countless demand letters, arbitrations, and settlements. The coalition’s April 6 launch is a meaningful development and signals a renewed effort to push for a legislative fix that was paused last year. Here’s what you need to know and some steps you can take as the debate shakes out. The Law That Wasn’t Built for the Internet The California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) was enacted in 1967 to address old-fashioned wiretapping and eavesdropping: phone calls, recording devices, and the kinds of things you’d expect to see in spy movies and soap operas . It was never desig...