Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP is running ads online targeting users of Cargurus.com asking if you’ve used Cargurus? If so it says your privacy rights may have been violated. See if compensation is available. This is a part of a troubling trend with private right of actions and class action litigation that we’ve been covering in the data privacy space.
We ask that you run a free privacy audit for your business to see what risks your business or clients if you’re a law firm may have and we will help you get compliant and avoid expensive litigation as we’ve done for business owners all over the world with the increasing trend in privacy litigation.
If you are using heat mapping software which in this case the lawyers have pointed to Microsoft and Criteo without giving California website visitors proper consent mechanisms you are at risk like Cargurus is here in this example. These session replay technologies are one of many tools that are being used for litigation.
The next promotion from the law firm states:
Based on the text in the image you provided, here is a summary of what the case is about:
This case is about online privacy. When a person visits a website with an internet browser, many pieces of third-party software are automatically installed on that person’s browser, which then begin receiving and sending data. Some of this software and data are necessary for the website to display and function as intended.
However, some third-party software is designed to send and receive information for other reasons, such as targeting advertisements to the user or tracking the user across different websites they visit. When these types of third-party software are installed and used without authorization or the user’s knowledge, it may violate certain state privacy laws, like the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”).
Below is a copy of the text provided as the notice of dispute that was shared with our organization. While we have developed templates to help get the individual demands dismissed and closed out after a good faith showcase of installing Captain Compliance software to become compliant the class actions pose another threat vs. the standard CIPA violations from Tauler Smith, Swigart, & the other firms that have sprouted up. We just covered the Questrade Litigation from Dovel and every privacy defense attorney knows Scott Ferrell of Pacific Trial Attorneys.
If you are worried about a potential privacy lawsuit and want to become compliant with the 20+ state privacy laws reach out for a free demo and see how Captain Compliance can automate your privacy requirements.
NOTICE OF DISPUTE
CarGurus, Inc.
Attn: Legal Department/Dispute Resolution Provision
1001 Boylston St.
Boston, MA 02115
Re: Notice of DisputeTo Whom It May Concern,
Pursuant to Section 1 of CarGurus’s Terms of Use (“Terms”) entitled “Mandatory Pre-Arbitration Notice and Informal Dispute Resolution Procedures” (Last Revised: 11/01/24), this Notice of Dispute notifies you that I am pursuing a claim against CarGurus Inc. (hereinafter “CarGurus”) for violating my privacy rights including the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”), Cal. Penal Code §§ 630 et seq., by using third-party tracking technologies which collected my information without my consent.
The CarGurus mobile application and www.CarGurus.com are the official digital platforms of CarGurus and provide access to CarGurus’s services. I visited the CarGurus website to research car sales through CarGurus.
Until recently, I was unaware that CarGurus installed third-party tracking software on my browser that collected my information including IP address, device information, referral tracking, URL tracking, and other information.
CarGurus violated CIPA. Most notably, CarGurus violated Cal. Penal Code § 638.51 by installing and using third-party software, such as web pixels and mobile app SDKs, on its platforms to collect this information. These tools qualify as ‘pen registers’ under the Act, and CarGurus failed to obtain a court order before using them.
Moreover, CarGurus’s violations of my privacy constitute deceptive business practices and are also actionable under the Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code § 17200 et seq.; the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, Civil Code § 1770 et seq.; common law; and the California Constitution.
I have retained Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP to investigate and pursue claims against CarGurus on my behalf under relevant state data privacy laws, including CIPA. Under the CIPA, I can seek injunctive relief and a statutory penalty of $5,000 per violation. I have authorized my attorneys to seek at least $5,000 in damages—the minimum statutory penalty under the CIPA—plus an additional $5,000 for every time CarGurus and the third-party trackers it installed collected my information including IP address, device information, referral tracking, URL tracking, and other identifying information, as well as actual damages and restitution. I have also authorized my attorneys to seek injunctive and declaratory relief to prevent CarGurus from further disclosing my personal information to third parties and to delete any information it has collected. Finally, I authorize CarGurus to disclose my CarGurus account details, including confidential information, to my attorneys if my attorneys believe those details are helpful in resolving my claim.
CarGurus’s Terms provide a 60-day pre-dispute resolution period to allow the parties to negotiate in good faith before commencing private arbitration before the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). Further correspondence regarding this dispute should be directed to my attorneys at Labaton, who I have authorized to discuss settlement of my dispute with CarGurus.
Sincerely,
*Lantern By Labaton has stood up this website: https://lantern.labaton.com/case/cargurus
From the website it states:
You may be entitled to up to $5,000.
- You may qualify for this claim if you have an account with CarGurus and visited www.CarGurus.com within the past year.
- CarGurus customers who value their privacy should sign up.
- All claims are backed by Labaton Keller Sucharow, a national law firm that has recouped over $27 Billion for people like you.
They are trying to entice visitors to sign up with language like:
“It’s free to start a claim and takes less than 2 minutes.”
CarGurus is an online marketplace and research site for car buyers. On www.CarGurus.com, users can shop for cars, compare prices and features on car, and contact sellers. We believe CarGurus may have installed tracking software on its site that secretly collects personal data from users, such as IP addresses. This software is likely developed by third-party companies, such as Microsoft or Criteo, and is designed to create user profiles for purposes such as tracking www.CarGurus.com users across other websites and targeting them with advertisements.
We are representing clients in individual arbitration claims against CarGurus on behalf of users who visited www.CarGurus.com and may have been tracked by third-party software without their consent. If you have a CarGurus account and visited the website in the past year, you may be eligible for a claim under California state law, which provides for statutory damages of $5,000 per violation.
