How a 1960s Wiretap Law Became a Modern Legal Minefield
Over the last several years, companies with websites (and what company doesn’t have a website?) have faced an onslaught of claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), California’s pre-internet wiretapping statute.
The legislature wrote the statute to regulate telephonic wiretapping (think Officer McNulty from The Wire listening to a conversation between D’Angelo and Wallace over a tapped pay phone). But today, plaintiffs frequently leverage CIPA—a criminal statute with a private right of action—to sue everyday website owners and others for the use of commonplace cookies and similar internet advertising technologies. This flood of ad-tech CIPA litigation and pre-litigation demands is likely to continue without clarity from the California legislature. And before you flip to the next article because you think a California law shouldn’t affect a Texas company, not so fast! Plaintiffs frequently rely on CIPA to target companies outside of California. So, if you or any of your clients have websites or applications accessible by Californians, y’all could be the next targets.
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Before proceeding, please note: If you are not a current client of Perkins Coie, please do not include any information in this e-mail that you or someone else considers to be of a confidential or secret nature. Perkins Coie has no duty to keep confidential any of the information you provide. Neither the transmission nor receipt of your information is considered a request for legal advice, securing or retaining a lawyer. An attorney-client relationship with Perkins Coie or any lawyer at Perkins Coie is not established until and unless Perkins Coie agrees to such a relationship as memorialized in a separate writing.