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.
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 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.