The Wall Street Journal Privacy Arbitration: Was Your Data Shared Without Your Consent?

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org believe that The Wall Street Journal may have violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act by installing tracking tools on its website to distribute accountholders’ personal data to third-party companies without consent.

Specifically, they believe that the WSJ website may use tools called tracking pixels developed by Meta, Google and other companies to collect users’ personal data—potentially including IP addresses, URL tracking, geographic information and device identifiers—and directly transmit it to the companies.

What Is the California Invasion of Privacy Act?

Introduced in 1967, the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) prohibits recording or eavesdropping on anyone’s private communications without their consent.

While the CIPA was originally introduced to specifically handle corded phone wiretapping, it has been expanded and updated over the years to include cordless and cellular phones. The law also has provisions on pen registers (meaning devices that record outgoing information) and trap-and-trace devices (which collect incoming information).

Oftentimes, cases involving online privacy, such as this one, will argue that the third-party tracking and analytics tools allegedly embedded in a website constitute a digital wiretap, claiming that they are functionally “unauthorized taps on the communication between a user and a website,” according to LegalClarity.com.

Per CIPA regulations, those affected by any of the practices it prohibits could be owed $1000s for violations of their privacy rights.

What Am I Signing Up For? Is This a Lawsuit?

You are not signing up for a lawsuit, but rather a process known as mass arbitration. This is a relatively new legal technique that, like a class action lawsuit, allows a large group of people to take action and seek compensation from a company over an alleged wrongdoing. Here is a quick explanation of mass arbitration from our blog:

[M]ass arbitration occurs when hundreds or thousands of consumers file individual arbitration claims against the same company over the same issue at the same time. The aim of a mass arbitration proceeding is to grant relief on a large scale (similar to a class action lawsuit) for those who sign up.”

The Wall Street Journal’s terms of use contain an arbitration clause and class action waiver, which require users to resolve any disputes with the company via arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution that occurs outside of court before a neutral arbitrator, rather than a judge or jury. For this reason, attorneys working with ClassAction.org have decided to handle this matter through mass arbitration rather than a class action lawsuit.

How Much Does This Cost?

It costs nothing to sign up, and you’ll only need to pay if the attorneys win money on your behalf.

If they don’t win your claim, you don’t pay.

How Much Money Could I Get?

There are no guarantees as to how much money you could get or whether your claim will be successful. However, affected Wall Street Journal accountholders could have claims worth $100s or even $1000s under the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

Sign Up and Take Action

Before commenting, please review our comment policy.