Latest News

The recent wave of CIPA litigation is not about immigration. It is not about protecting vulnerable families from bad actors — in fact, it’s quite the opposite. These lawsuits overwhelmingly target the most vulnerable entities among us: food banks, health clinics and other small businesses, nonprofits and public agencies using ordinary website technologies providing critical help, such as analytics tools, appointment scheduling software, chat features, payment processors, and other services that millions of startups, small businesses, and Californians trying to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true rely on every day.

California businesses and nonprofits are facing a growing threat from a law that was never designed for the modern internet. The California Invasion of Privacy Act, or CIPA, was enacted in 1967 to stop illegal wiretapping in an era of landlines and phone booths. Today, however, it is increasingly being used to target ordinary website technologies — analytics tools, chat functions, cookies and session replay software — that businesses of every size rely on to operate in the modern economy. What began as a criminal wiretapping statute has evolved into a massive litigation machine.

The Reform CIPA Coalition today highlighted the release of a new economic analysis from Oxford Economics finding that California Invasion of Privacy Act demand letters alone may have already cost businesses more than $1 billion, with the broader cost of CIPA-related litigation extending far beyond that figure.

The report, The Economic Costs of CIPA Litigation, examines the growing wave of lawsuits and demand letters filed under California’s decades-old privacy statute. Originally enacted in 1967, CIPA is now being used to target routine website tools such as analytics, chat features, and other technologies commonly used by small businesses, nonprofits, retailers, healthcare providers, and community organizations.

When a 1960s law is being used to shake down small businesses over ordinary website tools, something has gone badly off course, and it is time for Sacramento to act. The Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce is increasingly concerned about a growing threat to affordability and economic stability in California: predatory lawsuits filed under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, better known as CIPA.

A broad coalition of California businesses, nonprofits, healthcare providers, and community organizations formally launched a campaign this week to push for reform of the state law being weaponized against businesses that use standard website tools. The Reform CIPA Coalition is backing the revival of legislative efforts to limit the law’s scope and put a halt to the trend that has led to thousands of lawsuits and countless demand letters, arbitrations, and settlements. The coalition’s April 6 launch is a meaningful development and signals a renewed effort to push for a legislative fix that was paused last year. Here’s what you need to know and some steps you can take as the debate shakes out.