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Recent privacy litigation against Shopify and the NBA highlights a shared theme: companies may face risk not only for what their websites say about privacy choices, but for how embedded technologies actually collect data behind the scenes.

In the Shopify case, a California federal court refused to dismiss claims alleging that Shopify collected California consumers’…

A new California federal lawsuit against AI notetaking provider Granola highlights a growing privacy risk for companies using meeting transcription tools: consent cannot be an afterthought. According to the complaint, Granola’s software allegedly recorded a virtual meeting participant without giving notice that an AI notetaker was present or seeking permission to record. The plaintiff claims…

A recent court order from the Northern District of California offers a useful reminder that not every alleged collection of browsing data will support an invasion-of-privacy claim. In Campbell v. Honey Science, LLC (N.D. Cal. June 15, 2026), the plaintiffs alleged that PayPal’s Honey browser extension promised to search for and apply the “best” coupons…

California companies may have less time than they think to prepare for privacy audits. The California Privacy Protection Agency’s (CPPA) new Audits Division, created in February 2026, is expected to begin assessing companies’ compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) this year, according to Executive Director Tom Kemp. This is a notable remark because—while…

California’s new Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform (DROP) goes live on August 1, 2026, and the compliance stakes are enormous. State officials have warned that a single missed deletion cycle could create theoretical penalty exposure of $1.5 billion for one data broker. That number reflects how aggressively the Delete Act is designed to work. One consumer request can…

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a new executive order aimed at tightening California’s procurement rules for artificial intelligence (AI) vendors and “raising the bar” for companies that want to sell AI tools to the state. The administration says the goal is to ensure contractors meet strong standards and can demonstrate responsible policies that prevent misuse…

Data brokers are lining up to comply with California’s one-stop deletion tool requirement under the Delete Act, and the numbers signal a major shift in how privacy rights may be exercised and enforced in California starting this summer.

At its most recent meeting, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) reported that more than 575 data brokers…

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is decades old, but a recent artificial intelligence (AI)-related complaint suggests that plaintiffs are testing whether legacy consumer-reporting rules can apply to AI-driven hiring assessments.

In January, a class action complaint was filed in California, Kistler v. Eightfold AI Inc., No. C26-00214 (Cal. Super. Ct. Jan. 20, 2026). Eightfold…

States are weighing in on whether grocery stores, hotel chains, and retailers should be using personal consumer information such as “browsing history” and “location data” to decide what price you see, when someone else might see something different. Pioneering this inquiry is California, approaching this individualized pricing as a potential privacy problem. At the end…