In February 2026, in Sandoval v. The Beverly Collection, Inc., Judge Amerian of the Los Angeles Superior Court, sustained in part and overruled in part defendant’s demurrer to a complaint alleging defendant used hidden trackers on its website in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act and that its website was inaccessible to a blind and visually impaired plaintiff in violation of the ADA.
Background. Plaintiff, a blind and visually impaired consumer, alleged that defendant’s website used hidden third-party trackers, including Shopify Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Meta, and Pinterest. The complaint described collection of IP addresses, device and browser data, pages visited, time on page, scroll depth, mouse movements, clicks, referring URLs, advertising identifiers, geolocation, session duration, form interactions, and behavioral data. Plaintiff asserted claims under CIPA Section 638.51, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, CDAFA, and the UCL, alongside allegations that the website was inaccessible and connected to a physical retail location. Defendant demurred to all four causes of action.
The Court’s Analysis. The court overruled the demurrer to the CIPA claim because Section 638.51 reaches a device or process that captures routing, addressing, or signaling information, and the complaint alleged substantially more than an IP address alone. The pleading also alleged a statutory privacy injury under Section 637.2 without needing to show actual damages. The Unruh claim survived because the alleged website inaccessibility was tied to a physical place of public accommodation and could proceed under an ADA-related theory. By contrast, CDAFA requires damage or loss, and the court held that generalized allegations that data has market value and supports targeted advertising did not establish compensable loss. The UCL claim likewise failed because the complaint did not plead lost money or property; both dismissed claims were sustained with leave to amend.
Takeaways. Detailed allegations may be enough to plead a CIPA pen-register theory even when the complaint does not allege actual damages, but CDAFA and UCL claims require a distinct showing of economic loss or property loss. Accessibility allegations can also create an independent path under the Unruh Act when a website has the required nexus to a physical business.
Sandoval v. The Beverly Collection, Inc., No. 25VECV06215, 2026 WL 979453 (Cal. Super. Feb. 9, 2026).
