EPIC Urges Supreme Court to Review Decision that Prevents Internet Companies from Protecting User Data

EPIC has submitted an amicus brief in LinkedIn v. hiQ Labs, urging the Supreme Court to review a decision that prevents internet companies from blocking web scrapers who gather personal data on websites in violation of privacy policies. The lower court ruled that LinkedIn must allow hiQ, a data analytics firm, to scrape the personal data of LinkedIn users. In the amicus brief, EPIC explained that the decision "makes it impossible" for companies to protect personal data and sets "a dangerous precedent that could threaten the privacy of user data." The EPIC amicus brief highlighted the business practices of Clearview AI, a company that scraped billions of photographs to create a secretive facial recognition system, used now by foreign intelligence agencies. EPIC said that the lower court decision will lead to more "unethical and unexpected uses" of personal data. EPIC previously filed an amicus brief in support of LinkedIn users in the Ninth Circuit. EPIC routinely files amicus briefs in consumer privacy cases.