Plaintiffs’ cookie case crumbles

The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has ruled, in In Re: Google Inc. Cookie Placement Consumer Privacy Litigation, that plaintiffs did not have standing to sue Google for allegedly tricking their Internet browsers to accept ad cookies, finding that the plaintiffs had not pled any concrete injury. The court also dismissed plaintiffs’ wiretapping claims, holding that the URLs of the websites the plaintiffs visited, and other information about their Internet activity, were not the content of communications. Plaintiffs also alleged that Google violated the SCA by “intentionally access[ing] without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided.” The court dismissed this argument as well, ruling that an individual’s personal computer is not a “facility” under the SCA. This is an issue that has divided the courts, and which we will certainly hear more about again