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Your Website May Be a Lawsuit Waiting to Happen

If your business has a website, you may be exposed to a new wave of privacy claims under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). Plaintiffs and demand-letter claimants are increasingly targeting ordinary website tools such as cookies, pixels, analytics software, chat widgets, session replay tools, search bars, and online forms. These tools are common, but if they collect or transmit visitor information before providing proper notice and obtaining consent, they can create real litigation risk.

Cookies and tracking technologies help websites remember users, measure traffic, improve advertising, and understand how visitors interact with a site. But some tools do more than many businesses realize. They may transmit IP addresses, device identifiers, pages viewed, buttons clicked, search terms, form-field activity, or other user-entered information to third-party vendors. That is where the risk starts.

CIPA claimants argue that these transmissions may amount to unlawful “wiretapping,” “eavesdropping,” or tracking when they occur without the visitor’s prior consent. In practice, an ordinary search bar, contact form, Meta Pixel, Google Analytics tag, chat widget, or session replay tool can serve as the basis for a demand letter seeking statutory damages and attorneys’ fees. What looks like standard website functionality to a business may look like a litigation opportunity to a claimant.

This risk is not limited to large companies or technology platforms. Any business with a public-facing website can be targeted, particularly if non-essential tracking tools activate before a visitor accepts cookies or if the privacy policy does not accurately explain what the website collects, how it is used, and where it is sent. By the time a demand letter arrives, the business is already playing defense.

The better approach is to address the issue before someone else finds it. Businesses should review their websites now to identify what cookies, pixels, tags, analytics tools, chat tools, forms, and search functions are active, what data they collect, where that data goes, and whether the consent process actually works. They should also ensure that their privacy policy accurately reflects the site’s technology and that their terms of service include appropriate protections, including enforceable dispute-resolution, venue, and limitation-of-liability provisions. A privacy policy update alone is not enough if the site’s technology is doing something different.

Shulman Rogers offers a flat-fee website privacy review for businesses that want to assess and reduce this risk before a demand letter arrives. Drew Ricci and Joshua Glikin work together with businesses to identify website privacy risks, evaluate potential California-law exposure, and develop practical steps to reduce the risk of demand letters, lawsuits, or regulatory scrutiny. As part of that review, we can evaluate a company’s website, identify potentially problematic tracking and data-collection practices, and provide practical recommendations, revisions, or a revamped privacy policy tailored to the website’s actual functionality.

If your website uses cookies, pixels, analytics tools, chat features, search bars, or online forms, now is the time to understand what data your site collects, where that data goes, and whether your consent and disclosure practices are defensible. Shulman Rogers can help review your website, update your privacy policy and terms of service, and implement practical steps to make your business a harder target. If your business has already received a CIPA demand letter, contact us promptly so we can evaluate the claim, help preserve relevant evidence, and develop a response strategy.

About Shulman Rogers
Shulman Rogers is a law firm delivering elite legal expertise through genuine partnership. We advise businesses, families, and individuals through moments of change and challenge by staying close to the work, responsive when it matters, and invested in positive outcomes. Additional information on Shulman Rogers and its practice areas is available at ShulmanRogers.com.