Online Tracking Suits May Be Next Cyberinsurance Headache
Data Strategy, Security and Privacy attorney Paul Bond was cited in a Law360 article previewing privacy litigation in 2023. Mr. Bond explained that plaintiffs across the U.S. have brought proposed class action lawsuits accusing major companies of violating both state and federal wiretap and video privacy laws through tracking technology on their websites. About 100 such suits were filed in 2022, and the first two weeks of 2023 alone saw six more. Companies have turned to cyberinsurance to cover the costs, though the response from insurers will most likely depend on the outcome of litigation. Mr. Bond commented on the ubiquity of the online tracking tools cited in lawsuits as well as the statutes plaintiffs are using to bring claims.
The state wiretapping laws and federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) that plaintiffs are suing under "arose from very different circumstances, were trying to control very different things," he said. "And [plaintiffs] are trying to pull them over to challenge the everyday functionality of the internet."
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