Pictured are Andrew and Gytahnna Loffgren of Dixon firm Element Electric. A CIPA lawsuit was filed against the company for alleged violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act. Photo by Kevin Dietrich

SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - The Stop CIPA Shakedown Lawsuits coalition Oct. 1 celebrated Gov. Gavin Newsom's signing of SB 690, a major reform to the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) that will provide much-needed relief to thousands of California small businesses, nonprofits, and public agencies facing abusive lawsuits and demand letters.

SB 690 passed the California Legislature without a single “no” vote, reflecting broad recognition among lawmakers of the need to address the misuse of a decades-old privacy law against organizations using ordinary website technologies.

The new law will take effect Jan. 1, limiting private lawsuits involving CIPA's pen register and trap-and-trace provisions when claims arise from activity on websites, online applications, or mobile applications, while preserving California's strong consumer privacy protections and government enforcement authority.

"Tonight, thousands of California businesses have gotten relief from abusive litigation,” said Andrew Kingman, general counsel for the Alliance for Legal Fairness, in a statement. “We applaud Gov. Newsom for signing SB 690 into law and delivering real relief to businesses, nonprofits, and public agencies that have been forced to spend valuable resources defending themselves against abusive CIPA lawsuits.

“This is a meaningful step forward for organizations across California that have faced costly litigation and significant disruption, even when there is no allegation of actual harm or injury.

“We thank Sen. Caballero for her leadership and Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan for her sincere engagement in moving this issue through the Legislature, and we thank Gov. Newsom for recognizing the urgent need for CIPA reform.”

Originally enacted in 1967, CIPA was intended to protect Californians from unlawful wiretapping and eavesdropping on landline phones.

But the decades-old law, written long before the internet existed, has increasingly been exploited to bring over 4,000 abusive lawsuits over common website tools such as analytics tools, pixels and other digital services, without any allegation of actual harm or injury.

The signing of SB 690 marks an important step toward modernizing CIPA and ensuring California's privacy laws protect consumers without being exploited to pursue abusive litigation against businesses and organizations.

While SB 690 provides important relief, more work remains. The coalition will continue working with policymakers and stakeholders to pursue additional reforms addressing CIPA Section 631 and ensure California's privacy laws provide strong protections for consumers without enabling abusive litigation.