Seventh, Ninth Court Rulings Expand and Tighten Reach of Federal Video Privacy Protection Act

The VPPA may be nearly four-decades old and video-rental stores largely a thing of the past, but the rise of online content, streaming services and ancillary activities has brought with it frequent litigation based on the VPPA. The key challenge in these litigations is how to interpret the VPPA’s 1980s terms in light of today’s digital advances.

6 minute read March 31, 2025 at 11:11 PM
By
Stan Soocher
Seventh, Ninth Court Rulings Expand and Tighten Reach of Federal Video Privacy Protection Act

The Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (VPPA), 18 U.S.C. §2710, was aimed at preventing the “wrongful disclosure” of personal information about “consumers” — also labeled in the statute as “subscribers,” though the VPPA didn’t define the word — who rented or bought video tape products such as movies and TV shows.

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