CIPA Boondoggle To Continue For At Least Another Year

On July 1, 2025, a hearing was held in the California Assembly Committee on Public Safety concerning Senate Bill 690, which aims to stem the tide of lawsuits targeting routine website analytics and marketing tools by amending the California Invasion of Privacy Act to exempt the processing of personal information for a "commercial business purpose." The last few years have left virtually no business untouched by a massive wave of lawsuits alleging violation of Penal Code § 631(a), the California corollary to the federal Wiretap Act, and/or Penal Code § 638.51, the pen register/trap and trace device portion of CIPA, none of which have gone to verdict, but which have nevertheless cost businesses millions of dollars in nuisance settlements.