Amelia Garza-Mattia Discusses VPPA Consumer Definition Case with Law360

Winston & Strawn's Amelia Garza-Mattia, senior associate in the firm's Global Privacy & Data Security Practice, was quoted in a Law360 article discussing what to expect in oral arguments for the Salazar v. Paramount Global U.S. Supreme Court case. The case asks the justices to consider what criteria consumers need to meet in order to sue under the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), a law enacted in 1988 that prohibits the unauthorized disclosure of certain personal information belonging to “consumers” that rent, purchase, or subscribe to “goods and services from a video tape service provider,” and whether that statute applies to a consumer who doesn’t directly subscribe to audiovisual goods or services.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how the Supreme Court is thinking about not only the limitations of the VPPA but also the trend in privacy litigation more generally to shoehorn existing older laws into new contexts and situations,” Amelia said. “In that sense, this case can almost be considered a proxy battle for this larger battle, and it'll be important to watch if the Supreme Court draws a line in the sand on this issue.”

Discussing the potential impact of the court’s decision, Amelia noted that when it comes to the VPPA specifically, a narrower reading of the “consumer” definition would likely “significantly narrow the cases” being brought under the statute, as fewer plaintiffs would qualify as consumers, while a broader view would likely “open the VPPA floodgates” by potentially expanding the law’s reach beyond traditional video rental or streaming services.

“If Salazar prevails, that would likely cause even more companies to fall under the law, and their compliance obligations would grow accordingly,” she added.

Read the full article.