Cyber Adviser – Assessing the Surge in Wiretap Litigation

This episode is part of our Cyber Adviser series, where we discuss emerging issues in the world of data privacy and security.

In the past several months, plaintiffs lawyers have filed dozens of class action lawsuits under state wiretap laws, some of which provide for statutory damages of $5,000 or more per occurrence. The lawsuits focus on the use of chatbots, “session replay” software, and tracking code embedded in websites. Plaintiffs contend these tools enable the surreptitious sharing of personal information with third parties and are illegal wiretaps. In this episode, we discuss the reason for this surge in litigation, the status of pending cases, and potential defenses.

Phil Yannella and Greg Szewczyk, Co-Leaders of Ballard Spahr’s Privacy and Data Security Group, host the discussion.