Client Alert: Is Your Website Putting Your Business at Legal Risk? What the California Invasion of Privacy Act Means for Businesses

The useful part

You do not need to be doing anything unusual or aggressive to become a target. Rather, the issue is whether they are configured to start collecting or sharing information before a user has had a meaningful opportunity to accept or reject tracking. California wiretapping statute that plaintiffs are now applying in the website context.

How it works

• The core allegation is that information about a user's activity on a website or app is being intercepted, recorded, or shared with third parties without the user's consent.
• The CIPA claims now being asserted apply a more restrictive standard, with plaintiffs arguing that certain tracking tools cannot operate until the user has affirmatively consented.
• If your business has a website, and most do, the common website tracking tools and standard data collection practices you are likely using may expose your business to claims under the California Invasion of...
• These claims, which we are increasingly seeing, often focus on ordinary website tools such as analytics platforms, advertising pixels, session replay technologies, embedded mobile SDKs, browser...

What to take from it

CIPA claims have gained momentum over the past year and are increasingly being asserted against companies whose websites rely on standard digital tools rather t...

Details worth keeping

In many cases, the issue is not whether a company uses these tools.