11th Circuit Rejects Appeal in CNN VPPA Suit
Even if plaintiff Ryan Perry amended his claim to argue that his video history and media access control address are personally identifiable information under the Video Privacy Protection Act, that argument still doesn't make him a "subscriber" under VPPA, the…
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11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in an order (in Pacer) Thursday denying Perry's appeal. Judges Jane Restani, Susan Black and Charles Wilson said Perry hasn't shown any new allegations that would differentiate his 2014 lawsuit -- alleging VPPA violations from the network sharing data of its mobile app user with its analytics provider, Bango -- from the court's 2015 Ellis v. Cartoon Network ruling that the plaintiff can't be considered a subscriber under VPPA. Counsel for the plaintiff didn't comment Monday. The court's reading of "subscriber" leaves a tension between protecting consumers and making it possible to dismiss privacy suits, Venkat Balasubramani of the Focal law firm wrote Monday in a Technology & Marketing Law Blog post. He said content today "often involves a non-monetary quid pro quo," meaning the issue of whether a consumer paid money "is a poor metric." And he said the CNN case shows the vagueness of the "ongoing relationship" test that Ellis laid out.