DraftKings Seeks Dismissal in Case About Tracking Pixel
Gambling platform DraftKings asked the U.S. District Court for Southern New York to dismiss a case against it Friday, arguing the complaint in case 24-05997 oversteps the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).
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Jeffrey Wan’s complaint against DraftKings "is a fundamentally flawed attempt to expand the Video Privacy Protection Act (“VPPA”) far beyond its intended scope,” DraftKings said in its motion.
The VPPA, DraftKings argues, was enacted in 1988 "to protect consumers from unauthorized disclosures that identify persons as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services from a video tape services provider, not to regulate interactive online casino platforms."
However, Wan "wrongfully attempts to expand the VPPA by alleging that DraftKings violated the statute by allegedly using a Facebook pixel ... or other website tracking technologies in connection with the audiovisual materials offered on its online casino platform,” it said.
Wan last December filed a class-action complaint alleging DraftKings intentionally discloses personally identifiable information of users to third parties without their consent -- including records of videos the user watched -- which the plaintiff said violates VPPA.
“Plaintiff’s tortured reading of the statute cannot mask the fact that DraftKings is plainly not a “video tape service provider” as contemplated by the statute, the gambling company said. “The Court should reject this attempt to fundamentally alter the intended reach of a decades-old statute that has no application to DraftKings’ platform.”
DraftKings also requested oral argument if its motion is opposed.