Preview
1 Robert Tauler (SBN 241964)
rtauler@taulersmith.com
2 Wendy Miele (SBN 165551)
wmiele@taulersmith.com
3 TAULER SMITH LLP
626 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 550
4 Los Angeles, California 90017
Tel: (213) 927-9270
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Attorneys for Plaintiff
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8 SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
9 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
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11 LILLIAN JURDI, an individual Case No.
12 Plaintiff,
13 COMPLAINT FOR
v. VIOLATIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA
14 MSC CRUISES (USA) LLC, a Florida limited TRAP AND TRACE LAW
liability company; DOES 1 through 25, inclusive
15 (CAL. PENAL CODE § 638.51)
Defendant.
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COMPLAINT
1 I. INTRODUCTION
2 1. Defendant MSC Cruises (USA) LLC (“MSC” or “Defendant”) is a cruise line that offers
3 ships, excursions, a yacht club, and other services. As part of Defendant’s marketing regime, MSC has
4 partnered with TikTok to install sophisticated software on its landing page to learn the location, source,
5 and identity of consumers who happen to land on their website.
6 2. Plaintiff Lillian Jurdi (“Plaintiff”) visited Defendant’s website on January 4, 2024.
7 Without Plaintiff’s knowledge or consent, Defendant deployed a de-anonymization process to identify
8 Plaintiff using electronic impulses generated from Plaintiff’s device, as further described herein.
9 Defendant’s installation of the TikTok tracing process violates California’s Trap and Trace Law,
10 codified at California Penal Code § 638.51.
11 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE
12 3. Subject matter jurisdiction is proper in this Court because the amount in controversy is
13 within this Court’s jurisdictional limit.
14 4. Defendant has sufficient minimum contacts in the State of California or otherwise
15 purposefully avails itself of the California market. Exercising jurisdiction over Defendant would be
16 consistent with traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.
17 5. Defendant is also subject to jurisdiction under California’s “long-arm” statute found at
18 California Code of Civil Procedure section 410.10 because the exercise of jurisdiction over Defendant
19 is not “inconsistent with the Constitution of this state or the United States.”
20 6. Venue is proper in this County pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section
21 394(b) because the Defendant is not a resident of California.
22 III. PARTIES
23 7. Plaintiff is a citizen of California residing within Los Angeles County.
24 8. Defendant MSC Cruises (USA) LLC is a Florida limited liability company with its
25 principal place of business at 6750 N Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309-2173.
26 9. The above-named Defendant, along with its affiliates and agents, are collectively referred
27 to as “Defendants.” The true names and capacities of the Defendants sued herein as DOE
28 DEFENDANTS 1 through 25, inclusive, are currently unknown to Plaintiff, who therefore sues such
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COMPLAINT
1 Defendants by fictitious names. Each of the Defendants designated herein as a DOE is legally
2 responsible for the unlawful acts alleged herein. Plaintiff will seek leave of Court to amend the
3 Complaint to reflect the true names and capacities of the DOE Defendants when such identities become
4 known.
5 10. Plaintiff is informed and believes that at all relevant times, every Defendant was acting
6 as an agent and/or employee of each of the other Defendants and was acting within the course and scope
7 of said agency and/or employment with the full knowledge and consent of each of the other Defendants,
8 and that each of the acts and/or omissions complained of herein was ratified by each of the other
9 Defendants.
10 IV. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
11 A. Defendant’s Website and the Tik Tok Software.
12 11. MSC Cruises (USA) LLC is a cruise line and cargo shipping company. Defendant
13 operates https://www.msccruises.com (the “Website”). Defendant has installed on its Website software
14 created by TikTok in order to identify website visitors (the “TikTok Software”).
15 12. The TikTok Software acts via a process known as “fingerprinting.” Put simply, the
16 TikTok Software collects as much data as it can about an otherwise anonymous visitor to the Website
17 and matches it with existing data TikTok has acquired and accumulated about hundreds of millions of
18 Americans.
19 13. The TikTok Software gathers device and browser information, geographic information,
20 referral tracking, and url tracking by running code or “scripts” on the Website to send user details to
21 TikTok.
22 14. The TikTok Software begins to collect information the moment a user lands on the
23 Website. Thus, even though the Website has a “cookie banner” the information has already been sent
24 to TikTok regarding the user’s visit.
25 15. Additionally, since MSC has decided to use TikTok’s “AutoAdvanced Matching”
26 technology, TikTok scans every website for information. Thus, when the website asks for information,
27 such as name, date of birth, and address, the information is sent simultaneously to TikTok, so that
28 TikTok can isolate with certainty the individual to be targeted.
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COMPLAINT
1 16. The TikTok Software runs on virtually every page of MSC’s website. An image of the
2 code, as it appears side by side (and simultaneously) with the TikTok AutoAdvanced Matching tracking
3 code MSC has placed on the page, can be seen here:
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17. The MSC website instantly sends communications to TikTok when a user lands, and
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every time a user clicks on a page. In the example below, the right side of the image shows the various
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TikTok scripts being run by Defendant, and the electronic impulses being sent to TikTok to add to their
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collection of user behavior:
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COMPLAINT
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12 B. The TikTok Software is a Trap and Trace Device.
18. California Penal Code § 638.50(c). California law defines a “trap and trace device” as “a
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device or process that captures the incoming electronic or other impulses that identify the originating
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number or other dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information reasonably likely to identify the
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source of a wire or electronic communication, but not the contents of a communication.” California
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Penal Code § 638.50(c).
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19. The TikTok Software is a process to identify the source of electronic communication by
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capturing incoming electronic impulses and identifying dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling
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information generated by users, who are never informed that the website is collaborating with the
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Chinese government to obtain their phone number and other identifying information.
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20. The TikTok Software is “reasonably likely” to identify the source of incoming electronic
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impulses. In fact, it is designed solely to meet this objective.
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21. Defendant did not obtain Plaintiff’s express or implied consent to be subjected to data
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sharing with TikTok for the purposes of fingerprinting and de-anonymization.
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22. CIPA imposes civil liability and statutory penalties for the installation of trap and trace
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software without a court order. California Penal Code § 637.2; see also, Greenley v. Kochava, 2023 WL
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4833466, at *15-*16 (S.D. Cal. July 27, 2023).
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COMPLAINT
1 23. Defendant did not obtain Plaintiff’s express or implied consent to be subjected to data
2 sharing with TikTok for the purposes of fingerprinting and de-anonymization.
3 FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION
4 Violations of the California Trap and Trace Law
5 Cal. Penal Code § 638.51
6 24. California’s Trap and Trace Law is part of the California Invasion of Privacy Act
7 (“CIPA”) codified at Cal. Penal Code 630, et. seq.
8 25. CIPA was enacted due to curb “the invasion of privacy resulting from the continual and
9 increasing use of” certain technologies determined to pose “a serious threat to the free exercise of
10 personal liberties.” CIPA extends civil liability for various means of surveillance using technology,
11 including the installation of a trap and trace device.
12 26. A “trap and trace device” as “a device or process that captures the incoming electronic
13 or other impulses that identify the originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling
14 information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication, but not the
15 contents of a communication.” California Penal Code § 638.50(c).
16 27. California Penal Code §638.51 provides that “a person may not install or use…a trap and
17 trace device without first obtaining a court order…” § 638.51(a).
18 28. Defendant uses a trap and trace process on its Website by deploying the TikTok Software
19 on its Website, because the software is designed to capture the phone number, email, routing, addressing
20 and other signaling information of website visitors. As such, the TikTok Software is solely to identify
21 the source of the incoming electronic and wire communications to the Website.
22 29. Defendant did not obtain consent from Plaintiff before using trap and trace technology
23 to identify users of its Website, and has violated Section 638.51.
24 30. CIPA imposes civil liability and statutory penalties for violations of §638.51.
25 31. Therefore, Plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief and statutory damages under California
26 Penal Code § 637.2 and the equitable relief prayed for herein.
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COMPLAINT
1 PRAYER
2 WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for the following relief against Defendant:
3 1. An order enjoining Defendant’s conduct as alleged herein and ordering disgorgement
4 of data provided to TikTok through the TikTok Software;
5 2. Statutory damages pursuant to CIPA;
6 3. Punitive damages;
7 4. Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; and
8 5. All other relief that would be just and proper as a matter of law or equity, as determined
9 by the Court.
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11 DATED: June 5, 2024 TAULER SMITH LLP
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13 By: /s/ Robert Tauler
Robert Tauler, Esq.
14 Attorneys for Plaintiff
15 Lillian Jurdi
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COMPLAINT
1 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
2 Plaintiff hereby demands a trial by jury.
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4 DATED: June 5, 2024 TAULER SMITH LLP
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6 By: /s/ Robert Tauler
Robert Tauler, Esq.
7 Attorney for Plaintiff
8 Lillian Jurdi
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COMPLAINT
Preview
1 Robert Tauler (SBN 241964) rtauler@taulersmith.com 2 Wendy Miele (SBN 165551) wmiele@taulersmith.com 3 TAULER SMITH LLP 626 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 550 4 Los Angeles, California 90017 Tel: (213) 927-9270 5 Attorneys for Plaintiff 6 7 8 SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 9 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 10 11 LILLIAN JURDI, an individual Case No. 12 Plaintiff, 13 COMPLAINT FOR v. VIOLATIONS OF THE CALIFORNIA 14 MSC CRUISES (USA) LLC, a Florida limited TRAP AND TRACE LAW liability company; DOES 1 through 25, inclusive 15 (CAL. PENAL CODE § 638.51) Defendant. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 COMPLAINT 1 I. INTRODUCTION 2 1. Defendant MSC Cruises (USA) LLC (“MSC” or “Defendant”) is a cruise line that offers 3 ships, excursions, a yacht club, and other services. As part of Defendant’s marketing regime, MSC has 4 partnered with TikTok to install sophisticated software on its landing page to learn the location, source, 5 and identity of consumers who happen to land on their website. 6 2. Plaintiff Lillian Jurdi (“Plaintiff”) visited Defendant’s website on January 4, 2024. 7 Without Plaintiff’s knowledge or consent, Defendant deployed a de-anonymization process to identify 8 Plaintiff using electronic impulses generated from Plaintiff’s device, as further described herein. 9 Defendant’s installation of the TikTok tracing process violates California’s Trap and Trace Law, 10 codified at California Penal Code § 638.51. 11 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 12 3. Subject matter jurisdiction is proper in this Court because the amount in controversy is 13 within this Court’s jurisdictional limit. 14 4. Defendant has sufficient minimum contacts in the State of California or otherwise 15 purposefully avails itself of the California market. Exercising jurisdiction over Defendant would be 16 consistent with traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice. 17 5. Defendant is also subject to jurisdiction under California’s “long-arm” statute found at 18 California Code of Civil Procedure section 410.10 because the exercise of jurisdiction over Defendant 19 is not “inconsistent with the Constitution of this state or the United States.” 20 6. Venue is proper in this County pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 21 394(b) because the Defendant is not a resident of California. 22 III. PARTIES 23 7. Plaintiff is a citizen of California residing within Los Angeles County. 24 8. Defendant MSC Cruises (USA) LLC is a Florida limited liability company with its 25 principal place of business at 6750 N Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309-2173. 26 9. The above-named Defendant, along with its affiliates and agents, are collectively referred 27 to as “Defendants.” The true names and capacities of the Defendants sued herein as DOE 28 DEFENDANTS 1 through 25, inclusive, are currently unknown to Plaintiff, who therefore sues such -2- COMPLAINT 1 Defendants by fictitious names. Each of the Defendants designated herein as a DOE is legally 2 responsible for the unlawful acts alleged herein. Plaintiff will seek leave of Court to amend the 3 Complaint to reflect the true names and capacities of the DOE Defendants when such identities become 4 known. 5 10. Plaintiff is informed and believes that at all relevant times, every Defendant was acting 6 as an agent and/or employee of each of the other Defendants and was acting within the course and scope 7 of said agency and/or employment with the full knowledge and consent of each of the other Defendants, 8 and that each of the acts and/or omissions complained of herein was ratified by each of the other 9 Defendants. 10 IV. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS 11 A. Defendant’s Website and the Tik Tok Software. 12 11. MSC Cruises (USA) LLC is a cruise line and cargo shipping company. Defendant 13 operates https://www.msccruises.com (the “Website”). Defendant has installed on its Website software 14 created by TikTok in order to identify website visitors (the “TikTok Software”). 15 12. The TikTok Software acts via a process known as “fingerprinting.” Put simply, the 16 TikTok Software collects as much data as it can about an otherwise anonymous visitor to the Website 17 and matches it with existing data TikTok has acquired and accumulated about hundreds of millions of 18 Americans. 19 13. The TikTok Software gathers device and browser information, geographic information, 20 referral tracking, and url tracking by running code or “scripts” on the Website to send user details to 21 TikTok. 22 14. The TikTok Software begins to collect information the moment a user lands on the 23 Website. Thus, even though the Website has a “cookie banner” the information has already been sent 24 to TikTok regarding the user’s visit. 25 15. Additionally, since MSC has decided to use TikTok’s “AutoAdvanced Matching” 26 technology, TikTok scans every website for information. Thus, when the website asks for information, 27 such as name, date of birth, and address, the information is sent simultaneously to TikTok, so that 28 TikTok can isolate with certainty the individual to be targeted. -3- COMPLAINT 1 16. The TikTok Software runs on virtually every page of MSC’s website. An image of the 2 code, as it appears side by side (and simultaneously) with the TikTok AutoAdvanced Matching tracking 3 code MSC has placed on the page, can be seen here: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17. The MSC website instantly sends communications to TikTok when a user lands, and 17 every time a user clicks on a page. In the example below, the right side of the image shows the various 18 TikTok scripts being run by Defendant, and the electronic impulses being sent to TikTok to add to their 19 collection of user behavior: 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -4- COMPLAINT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 B. The TikTok Software is a Trap and Trace Device. 18. California Penal Code § 638.50(c). California law defines a “trap and trace device” as “a 13 device or process that captures the incoming electronic or other impulses that identify the originating 14 number or other dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information reasonably likely to identify the 15 source of a wire or electronic communication, but not the contents of a communication.” California 16 Penal Code § 638.50(c). 17 19. The TikTok Software is a process to identify the source of electronic communication by 18 capturing incoming electronic impulses and identifying dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling 19 information generated by users, who are never informed that the website is collaborating with the 20 Chinese government to obtain their phone number and other identifying information. 21 20. The TikTok Software is “reasonably likely” to identify the source of incoming electronic 22 impulses. In fact, it is designed solely to meet this objective. 23 21. Defendant did not obtain Plaintiff’s express or implied consent to be subjected to data 24 sharing with TikTok for the purposes of fingerprinting and de-anonymization. 25 22. CIPA imposes civil liability and statutory penalties for the installation of trap and trace 26 software without a court order. California Penal Code § 637.2; see also, Greenley v. Kochava, 2023 WL 27 4833466, at *15-*16 (S.D. Cal. July 27, 2023). 28 -5- COMPLAINT 1 23. Defendant did not obtain Plaintiff’s express or implied consent to be subjected to data 2 sharing with TikTok for the purposes of fingerprinting and de-anonymization. 3 FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION 4 Violations of the California Trap and Trace Law 5 Cal. Penal Code § 638.51 6 24. California’s Trap and Trace Law is part of the California Invasion of Privacy Act 7 (“CIPA”) codified at Cal. Penal Code 630, et. seq. 8 25. CIPA was enacted due to curb “the invasion of privacy resulting from the continual and 9 increasing use of” certain technologies determined to pose “a serious threat to the free exercise of 10 personal liberties.” CIPA extends civil liability for various means of surveillance using technology, 11 including the installation of a trap and trace device. 12 26. A “trap and trace device” as “a device or process that captures the incoming electronic 13 or other impulses that identify the originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling 14 information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication, but not the 15 contents of a communication.” California Penal Code § 638.50(c). 16 27. California Penal Code §638.51 provides that “a person may not install or use…a trap and 17 trace device without first obtaining a court order…” § 638.51(a). 18 28. Defendant uses a trap and trace process on its Website by deploying the TikTok Software 19 on its Website, because the software is designed to capture the phone number, email, routing, addressing 20 and other signaling information of website visitors. As such, the TikTok Software is solely to identify 21 the source of the incoming electronic and wire communications to the Website. 22 29. Defendant did not obtain consent from Plaintiff before using trap and trace technology 23 to identify users of its Website, and has violated Section 638.51. 24 30. CIPA imposes civil liability and statutory penalties for violations of §638.51. 25 31. Therefore, Plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief and statutory damages under California 26 Penal Code § 637.2 and the equitable relief prayed for herein. 27 28 -6- COMPLAINT 1 PRAYER 2 WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for the following relief against Defendant: 3 1. An order enjoining Defendant’s conduct as alleged herein and ordering disgorgement 4 of data provided to TikTok through the TikTok Software; 5 2. Statutory damages pursuant to CIPA; 6 3. Punitive damages; 7 4. Reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; and 8 5. All other relief that would be just and proper as a matter of law or equity, as determined 9 by the Court. 10 11 DATED: June 5, 2024 TAULER SMITH LLP 12 13 By: /s/ Robert Tauler Robert Tauler, Esq. 14 Attorneys for Plaintiff 15 Lillian Jurdi 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -7- COMPLAINT 1 DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 2 Plaintiff hereby demands a trial by jury. 3 4 DATED: June 5, 2024 TAULER SMITH LLP 5 6 By: /s/ Robert Tauler Robert Tauler, Esq. 7 Attorney for Plaintiff 8 Lillian Jurdi 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -8- COMPLAINT