consumer fraud

Trap and Trace Class Action Against HoMedics

A federal court in California recently ruled on a trap and trace class action against HoMedics and FKA Distributing Co. – and the ruling was fantastic news for the consumer protection attorneys at Tauler Smith LLP. The plaintiff in the case is a California resident who visited the HoMedics website. According to the legal complaint, the website utilized TikTok software to unlawfully collect personal information from the plaintiff and other consumers who visited the site.

Trap and Trace Class Action Against Skullcandy

California law firm Tauler Smith LLP has filed a trap and trace class action against Skullcandy. The civil suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, accuses the headphone technology company of unlawfully sharing customer data with TikTok for the purposes of fingerprinting and de-anonymization. The consumer fraud lawyers litigating the lawsuit have also accused Skullcandy of violating California consumer protection laws by failing to obtain consent from website visitors.

Trap and Trace Class Action Against C2 Education

One of the country’s largest tutoring companies has been accused of invading the privacy of customers. The California consumer protection attorneys at Tauler Smith LLP recently filed a trap and trace class action against C2 Education for collaborating with TikTok, the popular but controversial social media platform, by installing a trap & trace device on its website as a means to collect data from consumers. According to the lawsuit, C2 Education has installed a code on their website that automatically sends user details to TikTok.

Trap and Trace Class Action Against Smashbox Cosmetics

Tauler Smith LLP recently filed a trap and trace class action against Smashbox Cosmetics, and now the legal action is getting significant press coverage. A recent Law.com article on the Smashbox lawsuit details how the makeup company has been accused of using TikTok’s “trap and trace” software to help the social media platform unlawfully collect and store the confidential information of website visitors.

What Are Pen Registers?

A number of recent lawsuits have been filed based on something known as “the pen register theory.” But what are pen registers? One of the surveillance tools commonly used by law enforcement to spy on suspects is the pen register, which allows police to capture phone numbers that were dialed on outgoing calls. Increasingly, these devices are being used by businesses to reveal the content of communications on websites, which poses a very real privacy concern for consumers.

Law.com Article on Smashbox Class Action Lawsuit

California’s strong digital privacy laws, like the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), have become a popular basis for civil suits filed in state courtrooms. A recent Law.com article on the Smashbox class action lawsuit details how the cosmetics company allegedly used trap and trace devices to help social media company TikTok collect and store confidential information from website visitors.

Pen Registers vs. Trap and Trace Devices

Invasion of privacy has become a major concern for consumers who frequent websites and make purchases online. That’s because many companies are now using pen registers and trap devices, which may include website cookies, web beacons, script, software code, and other types of software to track user data. While both federal and California law provide strong protections for consumers in these situations, pen registers vs. trap and trace devices is still a distinction that needs to be understood before speaking to a consumer fraud lawyer.

Trap and Trace Class Action Against United HealthCare

Los Angeles law firm Tauler Smith LLP recently filed a trap and trace class action against United HealthCare. The national health insurance provider has been accused of collaborating with controversial social media company TikTok to unlawfully collect data from website visitors. These actions would constitute clear violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), which prohibits companies from using website tracking software to gather personal information about customers.

California’s Trap and Trace Law

California’s trap and trace law protects consumers against the unauthorized tracking of their activity online. For law enforcement, securing a court order to intercept communications is difficult because there are strict limitations on this type of activity. Yet, for companies with websites, it has become far too easy to acquire customer data in the same invasive manner without any authorization or consent.