Stakes Seen High, Potential Damages ‘Deep’ From Wave of VPPA Suits

The Video Privacy Protection Act is rapidly emerging as a preferred new litigation “weapon” for consumers, said a Foley Hoag analysis Friday. There has been an “uptick" in claims against companies for their use of Meta’s tracking tool under the VPPA, it said. “This trend suggests plaintiffs’ lawyers may be trying to stretch the VPPA more broadly than perhaps Congress intended.” Congress originally passed the VPPA in 1988, after a news organization obtained a list of films that Robert Bork’s family had rented at a local video rental store, without Bork’s consent, during the period surrounding his nomination to the Supreme Court, said the law firm. “Plaintiffs’ lawyers are now seeking to use the VPPA to prevent companies from disclosing information relating to their viewing habits online (and punish those that do),” it said. “The stakes are high.” The VPPA provides consumers with a private right of action, “and the potential damages can be steep,” it said. 18 U.S.C. § 2710(c)(1). Awards can include actual damages, punitive damages, reasonable attorneys’ fees and other litigation costs, it said. “Considering that a plaintiff class could consist of hundreds of thousands of consumers, companies that access consumer data have reason to watch these VPPA claims closely.”