A local company is facing a lawsuit citing a nearly 60-year-old California law, alleging an astronomy website it owns enables a data broker to sell visitors’ personal information to the highest bidders.
A California resident said in a complaint filed Oct. 6 she visited the website, astronomy.com, last year to learn about space and purchase a telescope. She was “unaware of the secret spyware being used to surveil visitors and monetize their personal information,” the lawsuit said.
The complaint cites the California Invasion of Privacy Act, a 1967 law passed because of rising concerns about eavesdropping and wiretapping during the Cold War, according to the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Decades later, plaintiffs allege retail, insurance and manufacturing companies — among others — use website tracking tools to collect data in a way that violates the statute, according to the association. Since 2022, plaintiffs have filed hundreds of lawsuits claiming violations of that law.