District Court Rejects CIPA Lawsuit, Setting A Higher Standard For Privacy Plaintiffs

In some positive news for companies facing privacy claims over marketing and tracking technologies, Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the Northern District of California has dismissed a putative class action brought under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) against the Gap Inc. The case, Ramos v. The Gap, Inc., No. 4:23-cv-04715-HSG, challenged Gap's use of Bluecore Inc.'s email marketing technology, which tracks whether a customer opens a marketing email, clicks a link and later interacts with the website. The court's ruling, issued on July 29, 2025, adds to the growing body of federal precedent pushing back on expansive interpretations of Section 631(a) of CIPA in the digital context.