United States of America: Supreme Court granted petition for writ of certiorari requesting review of dismissal in lawsuit concerning alleged unauthorised disclosure of video viewing history (Salazar v Paramount Global)

On 26 January 2026, the Supreme Court granted a petition for writ of certiorari requesting review of dismissal in a lawsuit concerning alleged unauthorised disclosure of video viewing history (Salazar v Paramount Global). The petition asks the Supreme Court to resolve the matter of "whether the phrase 'goods or services from a video tape service provider,' as used in the VPPA’s definition of 'consumer,' refers to all of a video tape service provider’s goods or services or only to its audiovisual goods or services." If the former, Salazar's case may not be dismissed on grounds of "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted," as Salazar's subscription to a newsletter service provided by Paramount will be considered a good and/or service. In turn, Salazar will be considered a "customer" under the VPPA, which prohibits a "video tape service provider" from "knowingly disclos[ing], to any person, personally identifiable information concerning any consumer of such provider." As Paramount disclosed Salazar's Facebook ID and his video-watching history to Facebook, such activity would be prohibited under the VPPA. If the latter, the case is dismissed.