Priceline, Orbitz Escape Communications Intercept Claims

A group of e-merchants including Priceline Group Inc. beat class claims alleging a marketing vendor improperly shared consumer data with the companies without explicit consent.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) claims May 7 because plaintiffs failed to allege sufficiently that they didn’t give consent to have their communications shared with Priceline, Buy.com Inc., and Orbitz Worldwide Corp.

The case highlights the question of what level of consent is needed to share information with third-party partners. It also shows that consumers alleging ECPA claims ...