Rapid Increase in Privacy Lawsuits Pertaining to HIPAA and VPPA Requires Companies to Take Control of Online Tracking Technologies
LOKKER, provider of online data privacy and compliance solutions for enterprises, introduces a new feature included in its Privacy Edge™ software suite. LOKKER now gives companies a solution to monitor and remediate potential web privacy and compliance violations such as HIPAA, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and state wiretapping laws across their portfolio of websites.
Most websites use third-party software to build and maintain their user experience. These include trackers, analytics tools, and marketing technology that can be integral to running a website. They also collect data that the companies oftentimes can’t see or control, and if this data collection is unauthorized, the issue escalates. That being said, if companies are aware of these issues, they can take appropriate actions to protect their customers and avoid expensive and rapidly-escalating lawsuits and regulatory fines and penalties.
Bloomberg Law reported 265 online data privacy lawsuits in 2023. In addition to these lawsuits, there were numerous enforcement actions by the FTC and state attorneys general. Recent VPPA and Meta Pixel class-action cases include dozens of regional hospitals, a longer list of healthcare companies, as well as a wide range of high-profile companies including Disney, H&R Block, Hearst Communications, Wyndham Hotels, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and Major League Baseball.
With new state data privacy laws coming into effect in 2024, including Washington’s My Health, My Data Act, companies can expect a continued increase in litigation pertaining to CCPA, VPPA, HIPAA, wiretapping laws, and general oversharing of consumer data. To address this widespread issue, LOKKER has introduced this new feature to help legal, marketing and IT teams identify privacy risks from unauthorized data collection. This is especially critical as demands for protections around child online safety escalate.
“Companies in every sector have been subjected to millions of dollars in lawsuits and regulatory fines pertaining to HIPAA, VPPA and other data privacy violations,” said Ian Cohen, LOKKER’s CEO. “While cookie consent platforms can help identify the use of trackers and cookies on a company’s website, consent doesn’t equal protection. LOKKER’s solution is a no-code scan of websites that identifies all trackers, cookies, pixels and beacons (intentional or unintentional), the data they are collecting, and if they may violate data privacy laws. LOKKER then provides tools in order to proactively mitigate these risks according to company policies. Think of LOKKER as a firewall against unauthorized data collection.”
“The use of online tracking technologies for analytics and marketing was long considered a common and accepted practice across industries. However, increases in US state privacy laws, regulatory enforcement from the FTC and OCR, and class action litigation relating to their use requires all companies to be aware of the tools they are using and what data they collect,” said Brian Segobiano, Privacy Practice Leader at Epsilon Life Sciences. “Companies should consider deploying privacy technology and processes to proactively monitor the tools and data collected through their websites in order to keep their commitments to protecting customer data and remain compliant.”
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