District Judge Rules Data Collection Notices Don't Violate Wiretapping Laws
On Monday, a judge for the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania ruled that website privacy statements that disclose third-party data collection do not violate the state's wiretapping laws, throwing out a case against clothing boutique company Harriet Carter, which faced a class action lawsuit for wiretapping claims.
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"The Privacy Statement makes clear that Harriet Carter uses cookies on its website and that these cookies may track users' activities," said Judge William Stickler. "The Privacy Statement provides sufficient information to alert a reasonably prudent visitor to the Harriet Carter website of the critical issue for a [Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act] claim -- that third parties, like NaviStone, may collect data relating to the visitor's conduct on the website."
Case 19-00450 began when plaintiff Ashley Popa sued Harriet Carter for allegedly intercepting and recording her communications on the website without her consent, in violation of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act. However, the district judge found that since the company's privacy statement addressed the data collection and disclosure, and was easily accessible on the website, these wiretapping claims did not hold up.