With Rising CIPA Claims, Here's How to Safeguard Your Business

"For business owners with an active website, you may already be the unknowing target of a lawsuit under California's Invasion of Privacy Act. The 1967 California criminal statute was intended to protect Californians against wiretapping telephone calls but has recently been weaponized to attack websites. Companies across the country have received demand letters or lawsuits alleging that their common website tracking tools designed to improve user experiences and advertising violate CIPA."

"Plaintiffs often allege that a user's interaction with a website, such as typing a word into the search bar, violates CIPA Section 631(a), which prohibits a third party from reading or attempting to read the contents of a message or communication while in transit. Plaintiffs contend that the communication gets "intercepted" by third party service providers without the user's consent, with the website owner assisting and conspiring to achieve the illegal interception."

"Plaintiffs also allege that websites with tracking tools that collect a user's information, such as their IP address, constitute illegal "pen registers" or "trap and trace" devices, which are prohibited, absent a court order or some limited exceptions by CIPA Section 638.51. CIPA lawsuits filed by pro per plaintiffs such as Vivek Shah as well as plaintiffs' law firms are surging. These lawsuits are very attractive for several reasons."

California's 1967 Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) was intended to protect against wiretapping telephone calls. The statute is being used to allege that common website tracking tools illegally intercept communications or act as pen registers or trap-and-trace devices. Plaintiffs assert that interactions like typing into a search bar are "intercepted" by third-party service providers without consent, with website owners assisting or conspiring. Plaintiffs allege that collection of routing or addressing information, such as IP addresses, can constitute illegal pen registers absent a court order. CIPA authorizes civil recoveries of $5,000 per violation.

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