U.S. Supreme Court appears skeptical of consumer privacy lawsuit

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court appeared skeptical Wednesday during arguments over whether video consumers are protected from having data shared between online companies.

Justices on the high court heard arguments in Salazar v. Paramount, a case focused on the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act. The legislation prevents a “consumer” of video goods and services from having personally identifiable information released to a third party.

Michael Salazar subscribed to Paramount’s online newsletter 247Sports to view videos. According to his lawyers, Paramount shared his Facebook ID and video-watching history to Meta.

Justices debated the definition of the term “consumer” in the law Congress adopted. Congress defined a consumer as “a subscriber of goods or services from a video tape service provider.”

Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett expressed concerns about expanding the definition of video tape service providers into the modern age. Each justice said the case could lead to large civil penalties against streaming service providers based on a decades-old Congressional statute.

“You’ve waved away concerns about the breadth of your argument under certain circumstances,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Joshua Hammack, Salazar’s lawyer. “Suits have been brought against every sector of the economy.”