SAN FRANCISCO– A U.S. federal appeals court has revived a proposed class-action lawsuit against the Canadian ecommerce giant Shopify, ruling that the company can be sued in California over allegations of violating consumer privacy laws by installing tracking software on customers’ devices.
In a 10-1 decision issued Monday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Shopify had “expressly aimed” its data collection practices at Californians, allowing a lawsuit brought by state resident Brandon Briskin to proceed. The ruling may set a significant precedent for asserting jurisdiction over online platforms operating across borders.
Briskin alleges Shopify placed tracking cookies on his iPhone without consent when he purchased athletic wear from a California-based retailer, I Am Becoming. The data collected, he claims, was then used to build a consumer profile that Shopify sold to other merchants.
Shopify, headquartered in Ottawa, argued that it did not specifically target California consumers and that the case should be heard in Delaware, New York, or Canada instead. However, the court found that Shopify’s actions were neither “random, isolated, nor fortuitous,” but a deliberate effort to extract data from California users.
“Shopify deliberately reached out ... by knowingly installing tracking software onto unsuspecting Californians' phones so that it could later sell the data it obtained, in a manner that was neither random, isolated, or fortuitous,” wrote Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw for the majority.
A spokesperson for Shopify criticized the ruling, calling it “an attack on the basics of how the internet works” and warning that it could drag online entrepreneurs into legal battles in distant jurisdictions.
Briskin’s lawyer, Matt McCrary, welcomed the decision, saying it reinforces corporate accountability.
The case has attracted widespread attention. A coalition of 30 states and Washington, D.C., backed Briskin, arguing for the right to enforce consumer protection laws in the digital marketplace. Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sided with Shopify, warning that a broad interpretation of jurisdiction could burden software providers globally.
Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan issued a dissenting opinion, arguing that the decision created a problematic “traveling cookie rule” that inappropriately expanded judicial reach.
The case, Briskin v. Shopify, Inc., is now returned to the lower court for further proceedings.
