It can often be difficult to maintain privacy while online. This is especially true when companies record information with pen registers or trace and trap devices. When a communication is recorded and decoded in this way, it is a violation of your right to privacy. If your phone number or similar identifying information has been recorded from a trap and trace device or pen register, you need a San Diego consumer rights attorney to help you recover what you’re owed.
Common website features, such as website cookies, web beacons, and other types of software and techniques, provide website operators with data. In some cases, this software overreaches the information it should take and may be considered a pen register or trace and trap device.
When this occurs, you should discuss your case with a pen register / trap and trace attorney. They can help you protect your privacy and determine if you are able to file a civil claim against the individual or entity that violated your rights.
The California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) can be found in the state’s Penal Code Sections 630 to 638. CIPA was enacted in 1967 to protect individuals and families by prohibiting wiretapping, electronic tracking, and other privacy invasions by individuals and businesses.
CIPA prohibits pen registers and trap and trace devices. While this law has historically applied to phone communications, it has more recently been applied to electronic communications. In some cases, website tracking used by businesses can fit this definition. If a business uses these devices on phone calls or online communication without consumer consent, the consumer can file a civil claim against them, and criminal charges can be pressed.
CIPA laws define a pen register as either a process or a device that decodes or records information related to routing, dialing, signaling, or addressing. It reads this information as it is communicated by an instrument or location that transmits a wire or electronic communication, but the contents of the communication are not recorded or decoded by the pen register. The collected information can include phone numbers, email addresses, and internet data such as IP addresses.
A trap and trace device is defined by CIPA as a device or process that captures incoming impulses, electronic or other. These impulses can identify the dialing, addressing, routing, or signaling information, which is reasonably likely to determine the source of the communication.
Like a pen register, the trap and trace does not read or determine the contents of the communication. Reading or capturing the contents of a communication would allow a device to meet the definition of a wiretap, not a pen register or trap and trace.
Websites have a lot of hidden software to enable website creators to track users and sell their information. A skilled consumer protection attorney can help you determine how to handle your own unique case.
CIPA 638.51 prohibits the installation or use of a pen register or trap and trace device without a court order. Law enforcement uses these devices to track illegal activity, but they must have a court order to do so. Since CIPA’s creation, the laws have evolved to include electronic communication, like internet technologies.
Violating the trap and trace or pen register laws results in penalties including up to $2,500 in fines and/or up to one year in jail. In addition, CIPA includes options for victims of the incident to recover compensation. This compensation can be secured whether or not the individual suffered actual damages from the violation.
If you have discovered that your rights to privacy were violated through a trap and trace device or pen register, you may be unsure what you can do. At Shay Legal APC, we have many years of experience protecting individual rights against CIPA violations. If another individual or a company breaks privacy law, they must be held responsible.
Daniel Shay and Shay Legal APC know it can be overwhelming to face any legal case. We want to provide you with the information you need so that you know what to expect. We can determine if you have a viable case and talk through your options together.
With our years of experience and significant resources, our team of electronic tracking attorneys is able to provide you with support against powerful corporations when they violate your rights. Our firm was founded on the belief in defending and protecting individual rights. We fight for you and the justice you deserve.
When you need an experienced consumer rights attorney, Shay Legal APC can help. Contact our firm today.
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