Compliance Stuff

If you were hoping the courts would offer clarity to the wave of California privacy litigation targeting website tracking technology, four decisions issued in just 10 days this April suggest you may be waiting a while . Four judges recently tackled nearly identical questions about whether the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) applies to the kind of third-party tracking tools that millions of websites use every day – and reached strikingly different conclusions. Here is what employers and businesses need to know about this eye-opening spate of rulings. The Core Legal Question At the heart of all four cases is the same statute:  CIPA’s pen register and trap and trace provisions . Plaintiffs across the country have been filing suit arguing that common website tools like session replay software, third-party advertising trackers, and analytics platforms constitute illegal “pen registers” or “trap and trace devices” under CIPA because they c apture information about website visi...

  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...