Editing Video Privacy Protection Act (section)

==2013 Amendments==
Following VPPA litigation against [[Netflix]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Singel |first=Ryan |url=https://www.wired.com/2009/12/netflix-privacy-lawsuit/ |title=Netflix Spilled Your Brokeback Mountain Secret, Lawsuit Claims |work=Wired Magazine |date=December 17, 2009 }}</ref> and other digital media industry giants, in January 2013, President [[Barack Obama]] signed into law H.R. 6671 amending the VPPA. The amendments allow video rental companies to share rental information on social networking sites after obtaining customer permission. 

Netflix, which had expressed concerns about violating the VPPA with its increasingly social video viewing services, reportedly lobbied for the change.<ref>{{cite news |title=Obama signs Netflix-backed amendment to video privacy law |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/obama-signs-netflix-backed-amendment-to-video-privacy-law/ |first=Steven |last=Musil |website=[[CNET]] |date=January 10, 2013 |access-date=June 18, 2015 }}</ref> Netflix cited the VPPA in 2011 following the announcement of its global integration with Facebook. The company noted that the VPPA was the sole reason why the new feature was not immediately available in the United States, and encouraged its customers to contact their representatives in support of legislation that would clarify the language of the law.<ref>{{cite web |title=Help Us Bring Facebook Sharing to Netflix USA |work=Netflix Blog |url=http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/help-us-bring-facebook-sharing-to.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923181836/http://blog.netflix.com/2011/09/help-us-bring-facebook-sharing-to.html |access-date=2011-09-22|archive-date=September 23, 2011 }}</ref> In 2012, Netflix changed its privacy rules so that it no longer retained records for people who have left the site, a change that was reported to have been inspired by VPPA litigation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/class-action-lawsuit-settlement-forces-netflix-privacy-changes/ |title=Class-action lawsuit settlement forces Netflix privacy changes |work=Ars Technica |date=July 31, 2012 }}</ref> 

Further results of VPPA litigation after the passage of these amendments were initially mixed. In 2015, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit]] found that the law's protections do not reach the users of a free Android app, even when the app assigns each user a unique identification number and shares user behavior with a third party data analytics company.<ref name=Ellis>{{cite court |litigants=Ellis v. Cartoon Network, Inc. |litigants-force-plain= |vol=803 |reporter=F.3d |opinion=1251 |pinpoint= |court=11th Cir. |date=2015 |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/3009101/mark-ellis-v-the-cartoon-network-inc/ |quote= |postscript= }}</ref><ref name=harvard>{{cite journal |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/2016/05/ellis-v-cartoon-network-inc/ |title=Ellis v. Cartoon Network, Inc.: Eleventh Circuit Limits the Scope of "Subscriber" for VPPA Protections |volume=129 |journal=[[Harvard Law Review]] |date=May 10, 2016 |page=2011 }}</ref>