Consumer Protection Dispatch
On July 20, 2026, Judge R. Gary Klausner of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California declared Vivek Shah a vexatious litigant and entered a pre-filing order restricting his ability to bring new digital privacy cases in that district. Vivek Shah v. Crain Communications, Inc., No. 2:26-cv-03070-RGK-CTS (C.D. Cal. July 20, 2026).
The order is a meaningful development for businesses that have received demand letters, draft complaints or arbitration demands from Shah alleging that common website technologies violate the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). However, its practical effect should not be overstated. The order imposes a procedural screening requirement for Shah in one federal district and does not decide whether the website practices underlying Shah’s claims violate CIPA.