Privacy Law and Privacy Regulations

California lawmakers have sent Senate Bill 690 to Governor Gavin Newsom, teeing up a narrowing of website-tracking litigation under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), who has until September 30 to sign or veto the legislation. If signed, the bill would eliminate private lawsuits asserting website-based “pen register” and “trap and trace” claims under Section 638.51 of CIPA. For businesses that have received demand letters or are defending lawsuits premised on routine website technologies—such as cookies, pixels, analytics tools, or similar tracking technology—the bill would offer relief from certain types of claims asserted under CIPA.

California's Senate Bill 690 has passed both legislative chambers unanimously, targeting the surge of lawsuits claiming that standard website tracking technologies violate the California Invasion of Privacy Act. While the bill would eliminate private lawsuits under one CIPA provision for website and mobile app tracking, it leaves intact multiple other legal theories plaintiffs have used to challenge cookies, pixels, and analytics tools, meaning the legislation may reduce but not eliminate website tracking l

California's legislature has passed Senate Bill 690, a groundbreaking law that retroactively eliminates pen register CIPA cases related to website usage, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of privacy...