CIPA Defense

Kronenberger Rosenfeld is at the forefront of CIPA litigation defense, helping businesses across the country. If you have received a CIPA violation or demand letter, contact our team for a free consultation today.

What is CIPA?

The California Invasion of Privacy Act ("CIPA") was passed in 1967, meant to criminalize eavesdropping on telephone calls. Recent cases involve alleged wiretapping via so-called "trap and trace" allegations, often based on a defendant's use of a third-party marketing pixels, cookies, or web beacons.

Rise in CIPA Litigation

The California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") and California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA") does not allow for individual consumers to sue for damages. This has led plaintiff's attorneys to repurpose the decades old CIPA law to address privacy violations considering the rampant use of marketing pixels and cookies that pass private information of website users to third parties such as Google or Meta (i.e. Facebook).

While some courts have been skeptical about the merits of these arguments by plaintiffs, other courts have refused to quickly dismiss cases. As these cases work their way through state and federal courts, there are strong arguments that defendants can assert at any stage.

CIPA Violations

CIPA is a powerful statute for plaintiffs because it provides for statutory damages of $5,000 per violation, which can create massive financial risks for defendants. Generally, a business will first be notified of a CIPA violation when they receive a demand letter or notice of litigation from a plaintiff's firm, outlining the claims and demands.

The lawsuits and arbitration complaints generally focus on a few main arguments. Specifically, plaintiffs argue that website tracking technologies are analogized to unlawful "pen registers" or "trap-and-trace" devices. Technologies used on websites (cookies or tracking pixels) capture information, like IP addresses, when users visit the site. That information can be sent to third-party platforms, like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Google. Plaintiffs argue that this collection and sending of information without consent to third parties is similar to the use of a pen register or trap-and-trace device, and which would be a violation of CIPA.

Respond to a CIPA Demand Letter

Our firm vigorously defends CIPA claims on behalf of our defendant clients, in both courts and in arbitration. If you have been named in a lawsuit or arbitration alleging CIPA violations, or if you have received a demand letter alleging California Privacy violations, we would be happy to discuss how we could help. Contact us today for a free consultation.