Can you sue over targeted ads? 'Blockbuster' Supreme Court case to decide

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court will hear a case on Oct. 14 challenging the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and its application to modern websites that use targeted advertising based on users' video viewing habits.
• Michael Salazar alleges that Paramount Global violated the VPPA by sharing his free video viewing data from 247Sports.com with Meta (Facebook's parent company) to target ads, seeking to apply the law beyond traditional video rentals to digital content.
• Paramount argues the VPPA was designed for physical video rentals and does not apply to free online content, warning that expanding the law could disrupt the widespread targeted advertising model that funds much of the internet.
• Privacy advocates contend the VPPA is more relevant than ever due to the growth of video streaming and online tracking, emphasizing Americans' concerns about data privacy and the lack of a comprehensive federal privacy law.
• The case raises key legal questions about the definition of "goods or services" under the VPPA, with lower courts dismissing Salazar's suit and experts predicting the Supreme Court may favor a narrower interpretation limiting the law's scope.