Supreme Court Hears Video Privacy Case: Is a Newsletter Subscriber Who Watches Videos a Protected 'Consumer'?
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on October 14 in Salazar v. Paramount Global, No. 25-459. The case began in Tennessee: Michael Salazar subscribed in 2022 to a newsletter from 247Sports, a Paramount-owned sports website, and watched videos on the site while logged into his Facebook account. He sued, alleging that the site's Meta Pixel tracking code transmitted his Facebook identifier and the addresses of videos he watched to Facebook without his consent, in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), enacted in 1988.
A district court dismissed his suit, holding that because he had subscribed only to a newsletter — not to audiovisual goods or services — he was not a 'consumer' protected by the Act, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court agreed on January 26, 2026 to hear the case. The single question before the Court is whether the phrase 'goods or services from a video tape service provider' in the VPPA's definition of 'consumer' refers to all of a provider's goods or services, or only to its audiovisual goods or services.
At argument, Salazar's counsel, Joshua I. Hammack, argued for the broader textual reading: anyone who subscribes to any goods or services from a video provider and whose viewing information is disclosed is a protected consumer. Counsel for Paramount, Paul D. Clement, argued that a consumer must rent, purchase or subscribe to audiovisual material itself, and that the broader reading would stretch a video-rental statute across the entire internet. Several justices observed in questioning that obtaining users' consent would not be difficult, while others pressed whether the plaintiff's reading went beyond the statute's purpose.
The ruling will determine how far this video-rental-era privacy law reaches in the age of streaming and website tracking. No decision has been issued; an opinion will follow at a later date.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 美国最高法院大楼。照片：Ken Hammond／USDA，美国农业部，公共领域（Public Domain），经 Wikimedia Commons 核实。U.S. Supreme Court building. Photo: Ken Hammond, USDA, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
