App Users Get Privacy Lifeline in 1st Circ. VPPA Ruling
Richmond partner David Anthony and Orange County partner Ron Raether were quoted in a May 3 Law360 article about the First Circuit backing a USA Today app user’s bid to hold the paper’s parent Gannett Co. liable for violating the Video Privacy Protection Act. The ruling is considered a boost for what had been fading prospects for plaintiffs attempting to use the decades-old statute to ensnare digital streaming services, the paper stated.
In a published decision, the court reversed a previous ruling dismissing a putative class action alleging Gannett ran afoul of the VPPA by recording the videos USA Today app users watched and sending that information to Adobe for analysis.
“The First Circuit’s decision adds a wrinkle to those companies in the business of buying and selling consumer information,” David said. “Another possible importance of this decision concerns the identification of data,” Ron said. “Merely removing known [personally identifiable information] may not be sufficient to de-identify the data.”