The Washington Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Old Navy LLC, 4 Wash.3d 580 (2025) has sparked a wave of putative class actions under Washington’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act (“CEMA”), targeting allegedly misleading email subject lines used by national retailers. In the months since, defendants have increasingly turned to constitutional and federal preemption defenses in an effort to stem this growing tide of litigation. To date, however, those arguments have gained little traction. Several district court decisions have denied defendants’ motions to dismiss on these grounds.
Continue Reading District Courts Appear Skeptical of CAN‑SPAM Preemption and Constitutional Challenges to CEMAAdvertising & Marketing
Greystar’s $24 Million Settlement Signals FTC Crackdown on Hidden Rental Fee
By Laura Kim, Jehan Patterson & Analese Bridges on
Posted in Consumer Protection
On December 2, Greystar agreed to a $24 million settlement over allegations it misled renters by omitting mandatory fees from advertised monthly rents. This settlement underscores the FTC’s continuing scrutiny of “junk fees” and signals that the FTC may pursue rulemaking requiring greater transparency in rental fee advertising.
Continue Reading Greystar’s $24 Million Settlement Signals FTC Crackdown on Hidden Rental FeeRecent Class Actions Under State Anti-Spam Laws Target Retail Email Marketing Practices and Raise Questions about CAN-SPAM Act Preemption
By Laura Kim, Jehan Patterson & Irene Kim on
Posted in Advertising & Marketing
A Washington State Supreme Court decision last spring that construed that state’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act (“CEMA”) to broadly prohibit any misleading information in retailers’ email subject lines has opened the floodgates to similar state spam claims. In the past six months, there have been eight putative class action complaints…
Continue Reading Recent Class Actions Under State Anti-Spam Laws Target Retail Email Marketing Practices and Raise Questions about CAN-SPAM Act PreemptionRegulators and Activists Increase Scrutiny on Use of Cookies and Cookie Banner Design
By Mark Young, Paul Maynard & Tomos Griffiths on
As many readers will be aware, a key enforcement trend in the privacy sphere is the increasing scrutiny by regulators and activists of cookie banners and the use of cookies. This is a topic that we have been tracking on the Inside Privacy blog for some time. Italian and…
Continue Reading Regulators and Activists Increase Scrutiny on Use of Cookies and Cookie Banner Design
Financial Institution Reaches Settlement in Call Recording Class Action
By Yaron Dori on
Posted in Advertising & Marketing
A financial institution and its vendor recently reached a $50 million settlement in a class action lawsuit for violating the call recording provision of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”). The settlement is nearly three times the size of the largest previous settlement under CIPA, which provides for damages of $5,000 per violation.
Continue Reading Financial Institution Reaches Settlement in Call Recording Class Action
FTC Announces Regulatory Priorities for Both Privacy and Competition
On December 10th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a Statement of Regulatory Priorities that announced the agency’s intent to initiate rulemakings on issues such as privacy, security, algorithmic decision-making, and unfair methods of competition.
Continue Reading FTC Announces Regulatory Priorities for Both Privacy and Competition