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Video Privacy Law and Online Services

By Richard Raysman and Peter Brown
January 31, 2013

The Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), passed by Congress in 1988, has reemerged as consumer video rentals have migrated from brick-and-mortar video stores to online subscription services, or sites that allow digital streaming of TV shows and movies over the Internet. The VPPA, which generally prohibits video service providers from releasing personally identifiable information (PII) without written consent, has become a relevant concern for modern media providers because such services are now typically linked to social media sites that allow users to share viewing habits, something that was not possible 20 years ago.

The VPPA, 18 U.S.C. '2710, http://1.usa.gov/Woigzh, prohibits video tape service providers from knowingly disclosing PII concerning any consumer to any person. The impetus for the Act occurred when a reporter obtained a list of videotapes that the late U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork rented from his local video store. Specifically, the Act prohibits a “video tape service provider” from:

  1. Knowingly disclosing to any person;
  2. Personally identifiable information (PII) concerning any consumer of such provider;
  3. Except for certain disclosures ' such as to the consumer or law enforcement, or for disclosures “incident to the ordinary course of business” of the video tape service provider, defined as “debt collection activities, order fulfillment, request processing, and the transfer of ownership.”

18 U.S.C. '2710(a)(4).

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