Class action lawsuits against Papa Johns and GameStop faced a recent setback, as U.S. District Judge Nicholas Ranjan of the Western District of Pennsylvania granted dismissals on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction and lack of standing, respectively. The plaintiffs alleged that the usage of session replay code on these companies’ websites contravened the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act.
For additional context, session replay code is implemented by several companies in order to record interactions with their respective websites. To the end user, this can range from a benign playback of their navigation paths to potentially invasive tracking of key presses, mouse movements, and form inputs.
The specific repercussions of this decision for individual privacy rights and corporate data gathering practices in Pennsylvania remain to be seen. In the meanwhile, legal professionals across the globe may find it instructive to familiarise themselves with the nuances of these cases.
For further reading, the full text of Judge Ranjan’s opinions can be accessed here.