Key players include Meta (owner of Pixel and Facebook), defendants like Flipps Media (Solomon v. Flipps Media), NFL (Hughes v. NFL), Reading International, Hillsdale College, and plaintiffs such as Detrina Solomon and those in Univision NOW suits.[1][3][2][4] The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed dismissals in Solomon (May 1, 2025) and Hughes (June 2025), denying en banc review on July 28, 2025, and explicitly stating it "shut the door" on Pixel-based VPPA claims by rejecting Facebook IDs and video titles as PII under the ordinary person test.[1][3][10] Other circuits, like the Northern District of Illinois (January 2026), have rejected this narrow view, finding such data sufficient as PII.[8]
This stems from a surge in VPPA class actions since 2023 targeting video sites using Meta Pixel, repurposing a 1988 law (originally for video rentals) against digital trackers on ~47% of websites.[5][6][10] The split emerged post-Second Circuit rulings, with ongoing suits in healthcare and education.[5][8] It's newsworthy now due to the March 12, 2026 Berryman decision amplifying the divide, signaling varied liability risks by jurisdiction amid rising pixel litigation and potential Supreme Court scrutiny on VPPA's "consumer" definition.[4][1][5]