A U.S. federal court in California dismissed a digital privacy class action against Foris Dax, operator of Crypto.com, over third-party tracking cookies. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen issued the dismissal order on Oct. 6, 2026, granting the defendant's motion to dismiss the plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint.
The judge ruled that plaintiffs failed to establish Article III standing—the constitutional requirement showing actual, concrete injury directly resulting from the collection of sensitive personal information.
The lawsuit alleged Foris Dax used third-party tracking cookies to monitor user behavior and share data to construct detailed consumer profiles. Plaintiffs claimed the company breached privacy pledges assuring users such tracking would not occur.
Judge Chen acknowledged that "cradle-to-grave" tracking enabling data deanonymization can establish standing, citing Ninth Circuit precedent in In re Facebook, Inc. Internet Tracking Litigation. But he found plaintiffs never alleged third parties actually collected or deanonymized data materially more sensitive than routine, non-sensitive site activity. That omission proved fatal to their case.
The court also rejected claims that misrepresentation or broken privacy pledges alone elevate routine web tracking to an actionable privacy injury. "The key is the sensitivity of the information collected," Judge Chen wrote, finding the complaint lacked evidence of particularly sensitive personal data being gathered.
Despite dismissal, Judge Chen granted plaintiffs 30 days to amend. The court determined further amendment was not futile, giving them a chance to address the standing deficiency.
Plaintiffs must file an updated complaint by Nov. 5, 2026, demonstrating concrete injury tied to collection of sensitive personal data that meets Article III requirements.
