Internet Privacy Litigation Continues To Create Uncertainty For Websites Using Third-Party Technology While Expanding To More States

The Authors previously published the below client alert on June 8, 2023, analyzing privacy litigation under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and other wiretap statutes in Pennsylvania and Maryland. We provide this update to include analysis from recent decisions from Massachusetts, subsequent to our publication, which have broad implications for the nationwide scope of this litigation. Companies should know that more and more of these lawsuits are arising throughout the country, under both federal and state law. In addition to the states above, lawsuits have been filed in Washington, Illinois, Florida and other states.

The pace of internet consumer privacy class action litigation is skyrocketing. Remarkably, no specific legislative change in the law triggered the increase in litigation. Instead, the driver of this litigation explosion — in particular litigation under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), Cal. Penal Code § 630, et seq. —