The Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) is a 1988 federal law that bars a “video tape service provider” from knowingly disclosing information that identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific videos, unless the person gives informed written consent or another listed exception applies. Congress passed it after a Washington journalist published the video rental history of Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork in 1987. A person whose information is wrongly disclosed can sue in federal court for actual damages, with a minimum of $2,500 in liquidated damages, plus possible punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
On October 14, 2026, the Supreme Court heard argument in Salazar v. Paramount Global (No. 25-459). Michael Salazar, who subscribed to a newsletter from Paramount’s 247Sports.com, says the site used a Meta Pixel to send Facebook the videos he watched there without his consent. Lower courts dismissed his suit, holding that a newsletter subscriber is not a protected “consumer” because the newsletter is not audiovisual content. The justices must decide whether the law’s definition of “consumer” covers buyers or subscribers of any goods or services from a video provider, or only its audiovisual ones. Reporting from the argument suggested the Court was leaning toward letting the suit proceed. A decision is expected in 2027.
Source: 18 U.S. Code § 2710, Wrongful disclosure of video tape rental or sale records (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School). Argument coverage: SCOTUSblog, October 14, 2026.
Image: VHS cassette by fluorinated, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.