## Facts

- Daniel Rodriguez used the PlayStation Network (PSN) to rent and purchase video games and movies, providing personally identifiable information (PII) linked to his viewing and purchase history.
- After Sony modified its streaming system, Rodriguez stopped using PSN.
- Rodriguez alleged Sony continued storing his video-related PII beyond the VPPA’s one-year destruction deadline and lacked timely destruction policies.
- Rodriguez alleged Sony Computer disclosed his PII to an affiliated entity, Sony Network, as part of PSN operations and management.

## Issues

1. Whether 18 U.S.C. § 2710(c)(1) creates a private right of action for unlawful retention of PII in violation of the VPPA’s destruction requirement, § 2710(e).
2. Whether an alleged transfer of PII between affiliated Sony entities violated the VPPA’s disclosure prohibition, § 2710(b), or fell within the “ordinary course of business” exception.

## Decision

- The Ninth Circuit affirmed dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6).
- The VPPA does not authorize a private civil action for violations of the retention/destruction requirement in § 2710(e).
- The alleged disclosure from Sony Computer to Sony Network was exempt as a disclosure incident to the ordinary course of business, including order fulfillment or request processing.

## Legal Principles

- The VPPA’s civil remedy provision, § 2710(c)(1), authorizes private suits for unlawful disclosure of PII under § 2710(b), but not for mere unlawful retention under § 2710(e).
- A disclosure is not actionable under § 2710(b) if it fits within a statutory exception, including disclosures “incident to the ordinary course of business.”
- Transfers of PII between affiliated entities managing or operating the same video service may qualify as ordinary-course disclosures when tied to functions such as order fulfillment or request processing.

## Conclusion

The Ninth Circuit held that the VPPA’s private cause of action does not reach retention-only claims under the destruction provision and that intra-affiliate transfers connected to operating the PSN fell within the statute’s ordinary-course-of-business exceptions, warranting dismissal of both theories.


Rodriguez v. Sony Comput. Ent. Am., LLC, 801 F.3d 1045 (9th Cir. 2015)