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NELF Celebrates Victory as Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules Against Applying Wiretapping Act to Internet Browsing
Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital
Vita v. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
(Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court)
Boston, MA — October 29, 2024 —In a landmark victory for the New England Legal Foundation (NELF), the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled today in Vita v. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, agreeing with NELF’s stance that the state’s wiretapping act does not extend to tracking users’ website interactions. This decision marks a significant win for NELF, whose amicus brief argued that the 1968 law was intended solely to protect the privacy of conversations, not online data monitoring.
The plaintiff alleged that the hospitals’ website data transmissions to third parties such as Google and Facebook constituted wiretapping violations. If upheld, the claim would have imposed extensive financial liabilities on the hospitals and set a precedent impacting thousands of Massachusetts businesses and non-profits.
NELF, alongside the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), argued in its brief that the wiretapping statute was historically rooted in concerns over conversational privacy and did not apply to non-acoustic, digital interactions. Today’s comprehensive 47-page opinion from the Court upholds this interpretation, protecting Massachusetts organizations from expansive interpretations of outdated legislation.
“This decision is a big win for NELF and for businesses across Massachusetts,” said John Pagliaro, NELF Staff Attorney and author of the amicus brief. “The court’s historical and commonsense interpretation affirms that internet browsing activity does not fall under the scope of the wiretapping act, as NELF argued.”
This decision sets a critical precedent, resolving over two dozen similar pending cases and protecting against future claims based on internet data tracking.
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About the New England Legal Foundation: Founded in 1977, the New England Legal Foundation (NELF – www.newenglandlegal.org) is the leading non-partisan, non-profit public interest law firm in the region dedicated to economic liberty. NELF’s ongoing mission is to champion free enterprise, property rights, limited government based on rule of law, and inclusive economic growth. We believe that free enterprise is a foundational value of a democratic society and the best opportunity for people to lift themselves to prosperity.