{"page":"/blog/tracking-pixel-wiretap-party-exception","modified":"2026-11-10","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","columns":["Reading","What it holds","What it relies on","What it means for a design"],"rows":[["Reading 1, on the site operator","The operator receives its own visitors’ communications as a party. The claimant still needs evidence of a criminal or tortious purpose beyond the act of interception.","18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) and Sweat, pp. 7–16","The design records who receives the original request and the aim of each tag."],["Reading 2, on the site operator","The operator’s goal can include disclosure of identifiable health information for a purpose independently alleged to violate another duty. On that reading, the party argument turns on evidence of the disclosure and its purpose.","18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) and the distinction between interception and intended disclosure","The design identifies each disclosed field and the downstream operation for which it was sent."],["Reading 3, on the vendor","A vendor using copied requests for its own purposes can be a separate recipient rather than a party to the site communication.","{V04d:In re Facebook Internet Tracking Litigation, pp. 24–29} and evidence of duplicated transmission","The design records own-use rights, duplicate requests and downstream destinations."],["Reading 4, on the vendor","A vendor that acts only as the site’s recording tool can argue that its receipt belongs to the site’s side of the exchange. Actual function and the applicable statute matter.","The party language in 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) and evidence about the site’s control","The design separates storage for the operator from any use for the vendor’s products."]],"sourceUrls":[["https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511","https://blogs.duanemorris.com/classactiondefense/wp-content/uploads/sites/56/2025/09/Sweat-v.-Houston-Methodist-Hospital-Opinion.pdf"],["https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511"],[],["https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511"]]}