Hi Reader,

Grab your coffee (and a cookie) — this one's important.

If you've been anywhere near the news lately, you may have heard about a wave of lawsuits hitting businesses over their websites. And it’s about cookies. Unfortunately, not the chocolate chip cookies kind, even though I just had to bake some last weekend! Seriously, what I’m referring to here are websites that track visitors without first asking permission. Chances are that you’ve clicked on one of these cookie consent banners as you’ve browsed the web.

We wanted to break down what's happening, what we've already done to help protect our website maintenance clients, and what you can do if your website doesn’t have a cookie consent banner (yet).

Is Your Website at Risk of a CIPA Lawsuit?

As of the end of July 2026, roughly 3,968 CIPA cases have been filed in California, according to the Digital Wiretapping Litigation Map maintained by law firm Fisher Phillips, under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) — mostly for using cookies, analytics, or ad-tracking pixels without visitor consent.

Settlements have ranged from a few thousand dollars to well into six figures, and it's not just a California problem. Here's the part that catches people off guard: CIPA applies based on where your visitors are, not where your business is—so you don't have to be in California to get a demand letter; you just have to have California visitors. The same legal playbook is now spreading to other states. That same tracker shows similar suits spreading under comparable laws in Florida (811 cases) and Illinois (108 cases).

Here's the good news: if you're on my website maintenance plan, I’ve already added a free cookie consent banner (powered by CookieYes) to your site — no extra charge. It covers up to 100 page views per month; if your site gets more traffic than that, you may need to upgrade to a paid plan to stay covered.

Not a maintenance client yet? This is exactly the kind of thing our plans handle for you automatically — reach out, and we'll get you covered.

Want extra peace of mind? Pair your cookie consent with an always-up-to-date privacy policy through Termageddon — they bundle both together and automatically update your policy as laws change. Use code KIKI at checkout for 10% off.

A Few Wins Worth Celebrating

• New print ads, hot off the press. We just launched a handful of new print ad campaigns for a few of our clients — always a fun change of pace from screens to paper. If you've spotted one out in the wild, send us a photo!

Genius Idea Alert

This summer, I participated in the Suncoast Coffee Crawl. There were multiple coffee shops to visit and receive a stamp for my passport. I discovered new places to enjoy lattes, baked treats, and more. This was a brilliant way to bring the regional coffee shops together to cross-promote, gain new customers who may have never found them, and receive online exposure/promotion by participants. Patrons are encouraged to snap photos, take videos, and post on social media with the hashtags! Definitely a brilliant idea!

Community Shoutout!

If you're local, come run (or shuffle, or shamble) at the Trick or Trot 5K Trail Run or enter the 1 Mile Zombie Walk — proceeds go toward student scholarships. Costumes encouraged. Here’s the sign-up link.

That's it for this round of Caffeinated Conversations! Got questions about CIPA, your website, or anything else on your mind? Just hit reply — I read every email, and I'm always happy to jump on a call if that's easier!

Cheers,

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