Recording of Customer Service Call “Not Private or Personal Enough” to Confer Article III Standing

And here’s another Nope-You-Don’t-Have-Standing ruling. Matthew Verdin of Covington and Burling writes:

Many businesses use customer support software that may include call recording features to help ensure a better customer service experience. A California federal court dismissed a wiretapping lawsuit filed against a software company offering this software tool (TalkDesk), holding that TalkDesk’s alleged recording of customers’ conversations with clothing retailers “is simply not private or personal enough to confer [Article III] standing.” See Lien, et al., v. Talkdesk, Inc., No. 24-CV-06467-VC, 2025 WL 551664 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 19, 2025).

The lawsuit arose from two clothing retailers’ alleged use of TalkDesk’s software tool to help record and analyze customer service calls. As a result of these retailers’ use of this tool, plaintiffs alleged that TalkDesk recorded their conversations with customer support representatives about store hours, product purchases, and the like. Plaintiffs asserted a claim under section 631 of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (“CIPA”), based on the theory that TalkDesk unlawfully intercepted their communications with the clothing retailers without their consent. According to plaintiffs, this alleged conduct harmed them because Talkdesk “infringed their interests in controlling their personal, private information.”