Haviland v. Rokt US Corp.
Summary
Plaintiff alleges Rokt’s website software transmitted visitors’ browsing information to third-party data brokers. The court stayed proceedings pending Variety Media’s resolution of the statute’s application to internet tracking, without deciding the merits.
Litigation Status
Procedural Posture
Putative class action; defendant sought a stay before discovery commenced.
Reported Holding
The court granted a stay pending the California appellate decision in Variety Media, finding all three Landis factors favored a stay.
What the Court Decided
Proceedings are stayed; the parties must submit a joint status report within seven days after the Variety Media decision.
What the Court Did Not Decide
Whether section 638.51 applies to the alleged internet tracking or whether plaintiff’s claim succeeds.
Significance
Generally viewed as defense-favorable. Characterizations of significance describe how the matter has generally been discussed in tracked public sources; individual holdings are often narrow, procedural, or fact-specific, and this page does not state or imply broader holdings than the sources support.
What This Page Does and Does Not Say
This page reports what our tracked public sources say about this matter — including, where identified, the procedural posture (for example, a ruling on a motion to dismiss is not a final merits decision). It does not report legal conclusions beyond those sources, does not predict outcomes, and does not constitute legal advice.
Technologies at Issue
- Data Broker Software Development Kits (DBSDKs)
- internet browser tracking / transmission of browsing data
- Data Broker Software Development Kits
- Internet browser tracking software
Third parties named or identified in tracked sources: Rokt US Corp., Third-party 'Data Brokers' (unnamed).
Statutes Invoked
- Cal. Penal Code § 638.51 (CIPA); Cal. Penal Code § 638.50(c) referenced
- California Invasion of Privacy Act; California Penal Code §§ 638.51 and 638.50(c)
Claims Asserted
- Cal. Penal Code § 638.51 (California Invasion of Privacy Act - alleged 'trap and trace device' use)
- Alleged use of trap-and-trace devices under California Penal Code § 638.51
What This Matter May Mean for Website Operators
California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) is an all-party consent statute with a private right of action. Consent standard and private enforceability are the structural features that most shape where website tracking claims are filed and how they are valued.
Because this matter is pending, anything reported here is procedural — allegations and interim rulings, not final determinations.
Detection of a similar technology on a website is an informational risk indicator, not a legal conclusion, and nothing in this section is legal advice.
Related Intelligence
Sources
- Haviland v. Rokt Inc.
- Haviland v. Rokt US Corp.: Order Granting Stay Pending California Appellate Decision
About This Page
Publisher: Inspection-Ready Institute, Inc. (DBA Crandall Consulting), an independent website compliance and risk consultancy. We are not a law firm and nothing on this page is legal advice.
How this content is produced: Facts are extracted from publicly available sources — court and government materials, recognized legal press, professional analysis, and industry reports — by our litigation intelligence engine, stored with full source provenance, and rendered from the database. Risk guidelines are computed by a deterministic formula, never by an AI model directly. See the full methodology.
Limitations: Counts labeled "Tracked" reflect matters identified in our source set and are not official court statistics. We report what courts decided and did not decide; we do not predict outcomes.
Corrections: If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate, contact us via the contact page and we will review the underlying sources promptly.
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