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Assembly committee moves bill aimed at blocking ‘abusive’ CIPA lawsuits targeting routine website practices
Summary
Sen. Caballero’s SB 690 (presented as SB 6 90 in transcript) would reduce the ability to use the 1967 California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) to extract large damages from businesses over routine web tracking; backers framed it as closing a litigation loophole while privacy and immigrant‑rights groups urged more caution.
Sen. Caballero asked the committee to advance a bill to prevent what supporters described as an explosion of opportunistic lawsuits that repurpose the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) to pursue statutory damages against businesses for ordinary web tracking practices.
Supporters — including the Los Angeles Times and trade groups — said a small number of plaintiffs’ firms have filed thousands of demand letters and suits alleging CIPA violations for common analytics and ad‑tracking behavior. Brandon Riley, a privacy attorney, told the committee CIPA predates the Internet and courts are split; he argued that routine processing of IP addresses and use of third‑party trackers should be governed by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) rather than by criminal/invasion‑of‑privacy remedies designed for wiretapping.
Opponents included privacy advocates, immigrant‑rights groups and community organizations. Juana Chavez for the Dolores Huerta Foundation said the bill risked loosening safeguards that protect immigrants and people seeking reproductive care from data exposure. Consumer and civil‑liberties groups asked for more time to refine language to preserve strong protections while stopping opportunistic litigation.
Sen. Caballero said she would make SB 690 a two‑year bill to allow further negotiation; the committee voted to pass the measure to the next committee so the work can continue.
