H.R. 10263: Halt Abusive Internet Lawsuits Act of 2026

This bill would broadly limit lawsuits and government enforcement actions under federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws when information or communications are collected, processed, or disclosed for a commercial purpose through digital commerce.

What that means in practice

• It would bar claims based on laws dealing with pen registers, wiretapping, trap-and-trace devices, and eavesdropping.
• It specifically mentions California’s Invasion of Privacy Act, which is often used in lawsuits over online tracking and website technologies.
• It would apply to common business uses of digital tools, including marketing, advertising, customer interactions, and selling goods or services online.
• The bill defines digital commerce broadly to include technologies such as cookies, pixels, session replay tools, chatbots, tags, and analytics.

Effect on existing cases

Any covered lawsuit or enforcement action that is already pending when the bill becomes law could no longer be continued, decided, or arbitrated after enactment.

Key definitions in the bill

• Commercial purpose: includes business operations, marketing, advertising, customer input, and facilitating sales, as well as other business purposes recognized by state law.
• Digital commerce: includes promoting, selling, buying, delivering, or supporting products or services through connected digital networks and tools.

Practical effect

In plain terms, the bill would make it much harder to sue businesses for using ordinary online tracking and analytics tools in the course of running websites, apps, or online services. It would also stop many existing privacy-related claims from moving forward if they fall within the bill’s definitions.

Relevant Companies

• GOOGL — Alphabet could be affected because its advertising and analytics businesses rely on online tracking technologies covered by the bill’s definitions.
• GOOG — Alphabet could be affected for the same reasons as above.
• META — Meta could be affected because its ad targeting and measurement tools often involve cookies, pixels, and related digital tracking methods.
• AMZN — Amazon could be affected due to its online retail operations, advertising, and use of digital analytics and customer interaction tools.
• NFLX — Netflix could be affected to the extent its streaming and user analytics systems use technologies covered by the bill.
• SHOP — Shopify could be affected because it provides e-commerce tools and services that may use cookies, tags, analytics, and chat-based customer support.
• CRM — Salesforce could be affected through its marketing, customer service, analytics, and digital commerce software offerings.
• ORCL — Oracle could be affected through its advertising, analytics, and data-processing products used by businesses online.