Waves of lawsuits and internet tracking: CIPA in the digital age

Small business owners in California are facing a wave of predatory lawsuits alleging violations of the 1967 California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) for using standard website analytics and booking tools. Over 3,000 businesses have been targeted by plaintiffs claiming that the use of tracking cookies from Google and Meta constitutes illegal wiretapping without consent. While business coalitions are lobbying for legislative reforms like SB 690 to shield commercial-purpose tracking, privacy advocates warn that weakening the law could eliminate vital protections against unauthorized corporate data harvesting.