California Legislature Advances Bill Targeting Wave of CIPA Pen Register Lawsuits
A California legislative committee has advanced amendments to SB 690 that would remove the private right of action for pen register claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, shifting enforcement authority solely to the Attorney General. The move responds to a surge in litigation targeting websites over tracking technologies.
Why this matters: CIPA pen register lawsuits have exploded because the law, written for telephone wiretaps, was stretched to cover common website tracking tools like pixels and analytics scripts. Plaintiffs' firms sent mass demand letters to businesses large and small. California's fix is to hand enforcement to the Attorney General and cut off private suits entirely. That stops the litigation wave, but it also removes a real enforcement lever from ordinary people. When the government is the only one who can sue, companies effectively bet that regulators stay busy elsewhere. The accountability does not disappear, it just gets harder to reach.
Who should care: Lawyers · Privacy officers · Compliance · General readers · Policy
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