Ninth Circuit Takes a Wrecking Ball to Internet Personal Jurisdiction Law

Let’s start with a tiny piece of good news. The majority says: “The parties agree among themselves that we need not develop an internet-specific standard for personal jurisdiction. We also agree.” No need for Internet exceptionalist rules. Yay! With that out of the way, bring on the tissues. Briskin made a purchase at an online retailer, IABMFG. Shopify processed the order fo0r IABMFG. Along the way, Shopify downloaded javascript to Briskin’s computer to enable the purchase and placed a cookie on Briskin’s computer when Briskin first visited the storefront. Briskin claims that Shopify aggregates Briskin’s data into its consumer database for nefarious purposes. Briskin sued Shopify for a variety of privacy violations in California. Shopify said California courts lack personal jurisdiction over it. (Shopify is a Canadian company with US headquarters in New York and ties to Delaware). The district court agreed with Shopify, as did a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit. On further ap ... Read full article.