amicus Nickelodeon Video Privacy Protection Act
Supreme Court Declines to Review Video Privacy Violations by Google, Viacom
The U.S. Supreme Court declined today to review In re Nickelodeon, a class action suit concerning privacy protections for Internet users under the Video Privacy Protection Act. Last year, a federal appeals court rejected claims that Google and Viacom had violated the statute, holding that static IP and MAC addresses are not "personally identifiable information." That opinion contradicted a previous ruling from a different federal appeals court, which held that unique IDs are personally identifiable under the video privacy law. EPIC filed an amicus brief in the Nickelodeon case, explaining that Congress defined personal information broadly "to ensure that the underlying intent of the Act-to safeguard personal information against unlawful disclosure-is preserved as technology evolves."