C2 Education Class Action Trial

Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Class Action Against C2 Education

C2 Education Class Action Trial

Tauler Smith LLP recently filed a trap and trace lawsuit against C2 Education for violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and now a federal court has ruled: a judge denied the motion to dismiss the class action against C2 Education. The complaint alleges that the leading provider of tutoring services nationwide has unlawfully installed “trap and trace” software on its website and allowed the social media app TikTok to collect private data from site visitors. The Defendant filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but the court rejected all of the Defendant’s pre-trial arguments. This represents a major victory for the California consumer protection lawyers at Tauler Smith LLP.

For more information about the lawsuit against C2 Education for invasion of privacy, and to learn whether you might be eligible to join the class action, keep reading.

Tutoring Company C2 Education Sued for Invasion of Privacy

Tauler Smith LLP represents California consumers who have filed a class action complaint against C2 Educational Systems Inc., a company which markets itself as a leading provider of tutoring, test prep, and college admissions counseling services to K-12 students in California and throughout the United States. The company’s online tutoring programs can be accessed at the website www.c2educate.com. This website is at the heart of the lawsuit against C2 Education because of the company’s partnership with the controversial social media platform TikTok. According to the lawsuit, C2 Education allows TikTok to install a “trap and trace device” on the tutoring website landing page and to secretly collect personal data about consumers who visit the site.

What Are “Trap and Trace Devices”?

What are trap and trace devices? California consumer protection law defines these as devices or processes that record or capture “dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information” from a “wire or electronic communication.” When a company embeds and uses a pen register or trap and trace device without first obtaining a court order, they are directly violating Section 638.51 of the Trap and Trace Law.

Lawsuit: C2 Education Violated California’s Trap and Trace Law

The California Trap and Trace Law is codified in California Penal Code § 638.51, a provision of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). The lawsuit against C2 Education alleges that the tutoring company violated the Trap and Trace Law’s prohibition against the use of pen registers and trap & trace devices: TikTok software embedded on the C2 Education website is utilized to unlawfully collect site visitors’ information without either express or implied consent. Beyond that, site visitors are never informed that their data is being collected and shared with the Chinese government for “fingerprinting” and de-anonymization.

“Fingerprinting”

According to the legal complaint, the TikTok de-anonymization software installed on the C2 Education website uses a process known as “fingerprinting.” This allows the site to collect data from visitors, and the data is then matched with TikTok’s massive user database to uncover visitors’ identities. The personal data that TikTok allegedly collects from website visitors includes device and browser information, geographic information, referral tracking, and URL tracking.

“AutoAdvanced Matching”

The class action lawsuit also alleges that C2 Education enables TikTok’s “AutoAdvanced Matching” feature, which allows TikTok to run codes or “scripts” that capture data from online forms filled out by website users. This form data may include things like the user’s name, date of birth, and physical address.

Defendant Files Motion to Dismiss Class Action Complaint

The complaint against C2 Education was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The Defendant filed the motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), which calls for a case to be dismissed when a plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

The Defendant argued that the complaint should be dismissed because:

  1. Section 638.51 does not apply to website software.
  2. The TikTok Software used by C2 Education merely collects information that is necessary for the basic operation and maintenance of the website.
  3. Consent was given for use of the TikTok Software on the C2 Education website.
  4. The TikTok Software only collects the “contents of a communication,” which is allowed under the statute.
  5. Section 638.51 is a criminal statute and does not provide plaintiffs with a private right of action in civil court.

Federal Judge Denies Motion to Dismiss Trap & Trace Lawsuit Against C2 Education

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner heard arguments from both sides and then issued a ruling denying the Defendant’s motion to dismiss. This means that the case against C2 Education could now proceed to trial. In fact, the court strongly rejected all of the Defendant’s arguments, and may have even set precedent for trap & trace class actions.

The court’s responses to the Defendant’s arguments are addressed below:

  1. CIPA Applies to TikTok Software

C2 Education argued that the claim should be dismissed because California Penal Code § 638.52 uses language about “telephone lines,” not websites. Also, the statute indicates that a pen register or trap and trace device must be a physical device attached to a telephone line. Therefore, argued the Defendant, the TikTok Software embedded in the C2 Education website is not covered by the Trap and Trace Law because the software is not a physical device attached to a phone line. The U.S. District Court disagreed.

In rejecting the Defendant’s motion for dismissal, the court highlighted an important distinction between § 638.52 and § 638.50. Although Section 638.52 refers to trap & trace devices as physically attached to telephone lines, Section 638.50 does not include any such requirement: the statute refers broadly to “devices or processes” that capture information electronically. Additionally, other federal courts have interpreted the statute broadly by focusing on the result of the impermissible data collection and concluded that tracking software can constitute a pen register or trap & trace device under the law.

  1. TikTok Software Collects Consumers’ Personal Data

C2 Education also argued that the complaint should be dismissed because the TikTok Software only records data needed for the operation and maintenance of the tutoring website. Since the Trap and Trace Law includes an exception for the use of pen registers and trap & trace devices to “operate and maintain” an electronic communication service, this kind of use would be allowed under the law. The district court rejected this argument.

In its ruling, the U.S. District Court noted that the plaintiff alleged that the TikTok Software is used by C2 Education to record more than just IP addresses. For example, the complaint alleges that the software also records browser and device data, form data, and other personal information about website visitors. The court found that this type of data collection is probably not necessary for the operation and maintenance of the website, so the statutory exception cited by the Defendant would not apply in this case.

  1. Consumers Did Not Consent to Use of TikTok Software

Under § 638.51 of the Trap & Trace Law, companies are allowed to use pen registers and trap and trace devices if the website user has provided consent. C2 Education argued that the invasion of privacy lawsuit should be dismissed because the main “user” of the website was the Defendant, who consented to the use of tracking software. The court understandably rejected this argument because California law would seem to indicate that the only relevant user of a website is the site visitor, not the site operator – and the user in this instance did not consent to having their personal data collected by the TikTok software. As such, ruled the court, the lawsuit against C2 Education should survive summary judgment and possibly go to trial.

  1. C2 Education Collects Personal Information from Consumers

The California Trap and Trace Law applies to websites that use pen registers or trap & trace devices to record “dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information.” However, since the statute seemingly does not apply when the “contents of a communication” are recorded, the Defendant in this case argued that the data collected by the TikTok Software on the C2 Education website does not fall within the scope of the statute. Once again, the U.S. District Court rejected the Defendant’s argument.

The court found that the lawsuit clearly alleges that the TikTok Software used by C2 Education gathers “device and browser information, geographic information, and browsing history.” Moreover, the lawsuit describes multiple data points that the TikTok Software allegedly captures, which is sufficient to bring a claim under the Trap & Trace Law.

  1. CIPA Allows Consumers to Sue for Digital Privacy Violations

The Trap and Trace Law is a part of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), which is codified as Cal. Penal Code § 638.51. The Defendant argued that the civil lawsuit against C2 Education should be dismissed at the summary judgment phase because the CIPA is a criminal statute with criminal penalties and does not allow individual defendants to seek monetary remedies in a civil suit. The court rejected this argument because the CIPA explicitly confers a private right of action and allows individual consumers to bring lawsuits. The court specifically pointed to § 637.2, which has a broad and unambiguous endorsement of private rights of action for all CIPA violations.

U.S. District Court: C2 Education’s Use of TikTok Software May Have Violated California Consumer Privacy Laws

At the conclusion of its order rejecting the Defendant’s motion to dismiss, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California stated that the allegations in the class action complaint “demonstrate that the Defendant, through use of the TikTok Software, collected site visitors’ information, thereby constituting an invasion of privacy.” Significantly, the plaintiffs may now have the opportunity to argue their case at trial – which represents another successful pre-trial outcome for the Tauler Smith litigation team.

Contact the California Consumer Protection Lawyers at Tauler Smith LLP

If you are a California resident who visited the C2 Education website for any reason, you may have been the victim of an unlawful invasion of privacy. Contact the Los Angeles consumer protection attorneys at Tauler Smith LLP to find out if you are eligible to join a class action lawsuit to receive financial compensation. Call 310-590-3927 or send an email.