California Ends Private Right of Action for CIPA Pen Register and Trap-and-Trace Claims
Governor Newsom has signed SB 690, stripping California Penal Code Section 638.51 of its private right of action and materially reducing class-action exposure for telecom, technology and platform clients.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 690, eliminating the private right of action for claims arising under California Penal Code Section 638.51, the state wiretap provision barring installation and use of "pen registers" and "trap and trace" devices without prior judicial approval. The change converts what had been a private-enforcement hook, and a recurring source of putative class actions, into a matter left to government enforcement, according to the reporting.
Why counsel should care: Section 638.51 has long been a recurring pleading in data-privacy disputes, particularly against communications carriers, messaging and location-services providers, and other businesses that receive court-ordered process for subscriber, device or connection data. Removing the private remedy narrows the discovery and settlement-cost profile of privacy cases that are not otherwise classable, and it may affect how residual claims are pleaded alongside federal wiretap and statutory privacy theories. The source does not state an effective date or address how the provision interacts with pending actions, so both points warrant verification against the enrolled text.
Next steps: confirm the operative date and any savings provisions; audit pending Section 638.51 claims and class definitions; and reassess whether parallel federal or consumer-protection theories remain viable. Watch for related California proposals and comparable reforms in other states with CIPA-style provisions.