• by Wendy Davis , Yesterday

A federal judge has dismissed a class-action complaint alleging that the ecommerce platform Shopify wrongly collected data from Californians who make purchases at online retail sites.

But the ruling, issued Wednesday by U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton in the Northern District of California, allows the plaintiff -- California resident Brandon Briskin -- to beef up most of the claims and bring them again.

Hamilton's ruling comes in a dispute dating to August 2021, when Briskin alleged that Shopify surreptitiously installed tracking cookies on his device as he was making a purchase from the online retailer IABMFG (iambecoming.com).

He alleged that Shopify was then able to track his activity and purchases across its network of merchants, and that it transmitted information to the payment processor Stripe, which was then able to analyze and process the information.

The complaint included claims that Shopify violated the state's wiretap law and engaged in "intrusion upon seclusion" -- a privacy claim that can be brought in California over "highly offensive" violations.

Hamilton initially dismissed the case, ruling that the allegations, even if true, would not establish that Shopify was subject to the jurisdiction of California courts. Instead, she said, the allegations could show only that Shopify was a vendor for the retailer IABMFG.

Last year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision and sent the matter back to Hamilton for further proceedings.

Shopify then asked Hamilton to dismiss on the ground that Briskin's allegations, even if proven true, wouldn't support his claims.

Hamilton largely agreed with Shopify, ruling that the complaint lacked the kinds of factual allegations that would justify further proceedings.

"All of plaintiffs’ claims must be dismissed for want of factual support," she wrote.

For instance, California's wiretap law prohibits anyone from intentionally reading communications in transit without all parties' consent, but Briskin's allegations wouldn't warrant the conclusion that Shopify intentionally violated the law, she ruled.

Likewise, Briskin's allegations regarding "intrusion upon seclusion," even if true, wouldn't show that Shopify intentionally violated his privacy, according to the ruling.

Hamilton gave Briskin until February 18 to revise his complaint.