California Restricts Tracking Pixel Lawsuits in a Law Easing Legal Pressure on Marketing Companies

Lawmakers in the state of California have passed bill SB 690, which redraws the boundaries of legal prosecutions concerning advertising tracking pixels under the CIPA privacy law, restricting the right to file lawsuits solely to the state Attorney General.

The law retroactively eliminates individuals' right to file class action lawsuits under CIPA against companies that use tracking pixels on their websites, in a move that takes a different regulatory approach by concentrating oversight in the hands of the executive branch rather than civil courts.

The wave of class action lawsuits linked to tracking pixels had disrupted the operations of many e-commerce and digital marketing companies, as hundreds of lawsuits were filed in recent years against businesses using tracking tools standard across the industry.

Although the law reduces immediate legal risks, it simultaneously reinforces the Attorney General's role as a guardian of digital privacy, doubling the importance of compliance with privacy requirements rather than relying on prevailing industry practice.

What do these terms mean?

**CIPA:** California Invasion of Privacy Act; it regulates how digital data is intercepted and collected, and previously allowed individuals to file direct lawsuits against violating companies prior to this amendment.

**Retroactivity of the law:** Applying the new law to incidents that occurred before its passage, thereby invalidating existing lawsuits relying on previous legal phrasing.