TimTalks: Automotive Leadership and Beyond

Protecting Your Dealership From Unexpected Privacy Laws with Nicole Newman & Joshua Talcovitz

August 20, 2024 • CarNow • Season 2 • Episode 2

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Episode Description:

In this episode of Tim Talks, we dive deep into the complexities of privacy laws impacting the automotive industry with our special guests, privacy attorney Nicole Newman from L2 Partners, and senior attorney Joshua Talcovitz from Kurkin, Forehand, and Brandes. Learn about the challenges dealerships face regarding outdated privacy laws, such as the Florida Security and Communication Act, and how these laws are being leveraged in lawsuits that could affect your dealership. Nicole and Joshua provide invaluable insights on how to protect your dealership from these legal pitfalls and proactive measures you can take to stay compliant.


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Show Notes:

[00:00] Introduction: Tim Cox introduces the focus of the episode – the importance of leadership in the automotive industry and the growing concern over compliance with privacy laws.

[00:17] Industry Challenges: Tim Cox highlights the need for the automotive industry to stay compliant with laws like GLBA and TCPA, with a focus on protecting dealerships.

[01:19] Guest Introduction: Tim Cox introduces privacy attorney Nicole Newman and senior attorney Joshua Talcovitz.

[02:07] The Florida Security of Communications Act: Nicole Newman and Joshua Talcovitz discuss the law being used to file lawsuits against dealerships for their chat features.

[03:13] Understanding Consent: Nicole Newman explains the lawsuits stemming from improper consent in dealership online chats and how CarNow is helping dealers protect themselves.

[05:14] Wiretap Law Application: Joshua Talcovitz expands on the outdated wiretap laws and how they are misapplied to modern chat features on dealership websites.

[07:49] Who’s Behind the Lawsuits: Joshua Talcovitz reveals how digital privacy advocates, or individuals looking to profit from lawsuits, are targeting dealerships.

[10:18] Court Cases & Outcomes: Joshua Talcovitz details the legal landscape, including small claims courts, and the potential for these cases to escalate to class-action lawsuits.

[14:53] How Dealerships Can Protect Themselves: Nicole Newman and Joshua Talcovitz share proactive steps dealerships can take, such as adding cookie banners and updating privacy policies.

[18:09] Two-Party Consent States: Nicole Newman lists states with two-party consent laws and why dealerships must be extra vigilant in those areas.

[20:12] Practical Solutions: Tim and his guests discuss practical steps dealerships can take to avoid lawsuits, including working closely with their web providers.

[24:07] Final Thoughts: Joshua Talcovitz and Nicole Newman encourage dealerships to fight these lawsuits rather than settle, in order to prevent a flood of future legal actions.

[27:00] Call to Action: Tim Cox wraps up with a call for dealerships to be proactive, protect themselves, and reach out to CarNow or legal experts for guidance.

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:17:00
Unknown

In over three decades, I've learned that truly great car dealerships are only great because of one thing leadership. So I'm sitting down with the great men and women. Inspiring Automotive on Tim Talks Automotive Leadership and Beyond. You.

00:00:17:00 - 00:00:46:09
Speaker 1

Welcome everyone to yet another new episode of Tim Talks. Today we are going to be discussing a problem that, we all need to address, and CarNow is actively addressing these issues. There are several things. Obviously, our industry, with what's happening, making sure that we're completely compliant with GALBA, with TCPA and so many other things.

00:00:46:09 - 00:01:19:17
Speaker 1

There are things out there. There are lawsuits out there that we wanted to make you aware of to protect the automotive space that has been so good to us. So I have as guest today, people, as often are people much smarter than I am. So congrats to everyone, for listening. you get the smart people today, but I have my friend Nicole Newman, who is a privacy attorney from L2 Partners and  BD Emerson.

00:01:19:21 - 00:01:45:29
Speaker 1

We also have the incredible Josh Talcovitz of Kurkin Forehead and Brande's and, or forehand. Scuse me, I said, see, I told you I was going to mess up. I said, forehead, forehand. we're going to have fun today. And brande’s and, listen, guys, I wanted to present the problem, what's happening in our dealerships across the country to equip you to be able to handle that.

00:01:45:29 - 00:02:07:23
Speaker 1

So, Nicole, let me just start with you. you know, CarNow is actively addressing, these and several of our dealerships, but but let's talk about the Florida Security and Communication Act. Let's let's start there. And what we're doing to provide help for our dealers and what they should be made aware of.

00:02:07:26 - 00:02:50:09
Speaker 2

Thanks, Tim. as you know, I've worked with now for a number of years now in their privacy program as a privacy attorney. I'll be honest, these laws were not on the radar because they're so old. so I'll defer to Josh on talking about the specific laws. But from a privacy standpoint, what we're seeing are these multiple small number suits coming from several litigants, plaintiffs that are claiming hence proper consent was not obtained prior to, prior to an individual entering into a chat, online at a dealership.

00:02:50:12 - 00:03:13:20
Speaker 2

So it's it's very concerning because it's taking up time that could be spent better on the business. and because the there, there isn't certainty as to whether there's actually a, an issue here or not. Nonetheless, CarNow is to taking steps to help its dealership clients to deal with these and appropriately address them.

00:03:13:22 - 00:03:47:26
Speaker 1

And the thing that boggles my mind, this is an 80 year old law that was put on the books, ladies and gentlemen, lean in here. It would put on the books during World War two for German and Japanese spies, and being able to, you know, I just made that part up. But I think it's true. Like during World War two, obviously there was no chat and no digital communication, but this is that old of a law and people are finding loopholes and then attacking dealerships.

00:03:47:26 - 00:03:48:28
Speaker 1

Is that a correct assessment?

00:03:49:04 - 00:04:28:14
Speaker 2

That's absolutely accurate, Tim. And the thing to keep in mind, too, is that not every state has this law. There are certain states that have one party consent for tapping or recording conversations over wires, meaning telephone wires. This was 80 years ago when we weren't thinking about the internet and weren't thinking about chats on websites. So, 80 years ago, they these there's about 11 states that have two party consent, and that two party consent means both parties to the conversation have to say, yes, I'm okay with this being recorded.

00:04:28:19 - 00:05:02:29

Speaker 2
That's why if you call a company and you and you're talking on their telephone line, you may get that question that says, are you okay with this being recorded? Or so you know, this is recording. By continuing you, you're accepting the fact that this is going to be recorded. So very outdated law being applied to a very new type of technology, which which is really it's dumbfounded, dumbfounding or it's, it's even leading to a bit of uncertainty in at the court level, too, because some of the courts haven't come out with very clear decisions.

00:05:02:29 - 00:05:14:23
Speaker 2

Or those courts in California that have addressed this have not come out with clear decisions on whether it actually applies or not. And that's why we're seeing so many of these suits in California.

00:05:14:23 - 00:05:18:20
Speaker 1
I believe they call it the California invasion of privacy.

00:05:18:23 - 00:05:20:03
Speaker 2

Yes.

00:05:20:05 - 00:05:44:12
Speaker 1

Listen, I just want to chat and see if I can get my oral changed, but that is an invasion of privacy. Josh, can you go a little deeper into the pool? Thank you. Nicole, as we unpack this, of kind of the who, what, where and why? obviously, you know, who's doing this, what's going on and hope to protect our dealers because I guarantee you, most dealers listening, most people listening are like, wait a minute.

00:05:44:12 - 00:05:51:26
Speaker 1

It's an 80 year old wiretap, not wiretapping anything. So kind of the who, what, where and why of of, of what's happening now.

00:05:51:29 - 00:06:15:04
Speaker 3

Sure. And tempting. Thank you as well to having me on here today. I shape that. So Florida's law, just a little point of clarity. Not quite as old as the one in California as I understand it, but we're still talking about the 1960s. Yeah. But in when this was put in place about 55 years ago, before the internet was ever even thought in our minds as especially as car dealers.
00:06:15:06 - 00:06:37:03
Speaker 3
but I think what's most important here is to look at before we can get to the who, what, where, why is the why of why this law was put into effect and how there is any interplay to what we're dealing with now. Right. So, as you guys know, and as your listeners who may have been affected by this or may end up being affected by this stuff, you know, the what for?

00:06:37:03 - 00:07:05:08
Speaker 3

This is what are people being sued for under this Florida Security of Communications Act and the chat feature on our dealer websites, almost all of our dealers have them, if not all of them. CarNow is a major player in that field, and obviously why you guys are actively taking steps to address what has been going on. But we're dealing with a situation where our customer, as you alluded to before, may come up and say, I want a little info about my oil change, little info about this.

00:07:05:11 - 00:07:24:16
Speaker 3

I don't know, maybe a Mazda that I saw for sale on your website. Can I get that? They type some information into a little chat box and someone chats with them, whether it's AI generated or an actual person. I think there's a little bit of interplay between the two of those. and now we're seeing lawsuits stemming from that, and that's the who.

00:07:24:19 - 00:07:49:09
Speaker 3

There are people that call themselves digital privacy advocates and really what they are, in my opinion, Tim and Nicole, they're they're litigious individuals looking for a way to make a buck. and what they're doing is they're actively seeking out websites, of automotive dealers. It doesn't matter what factory you're looking from, from Kia to Hyundai to BMW and Porsche, we've seen all of it so far.

00:07:49:15 - 00:08:15:08
Speaker 3

And it's the same individuals, and the same attorneys, at least in Florida, that we've seen do this. So what I can tell you, the whole digital privacy advocates or as I like to call them, people looking to make a buck you can is also probably just looking to make a buck. and we're seeing at least a dozen of these, throughout Broward and Palm Beach County in Florida.

00:08:15:11 - 00:08:39:16
Speaker 3
I suspect they're probably a few more in the proverbial pipeline. Now, the what I think I sort of address that the what is what are they suing? Well, they're essentially saying that when I go on to your website dealer and I type in some information and you work or intercept, that's the word they use intercept and record that information.

00:08:39:19 - 00:09:05:02
Speaker 3

You're committing a wiretap. you're committing a wiretap, and I have the right to bring a private civil suit against you under this 55 year old law. Now, everybody's initial reaction is, how is that possible? Right? This law was put on the books in order to stop wiretapping for organized crime, which was a rapid issue in the late 1960s, early 1970s.

00:09:05:05 - 00:09:28:14
Speaker 3

No one was thinking about the internet or what this is about. But, you know, a crafty lawyer, perhaps a crafty litigant. And this is now what we're dealing with. And as Nicole alluded to, are not the only states, not the only state rather dealing with this California. I suspect some of the other two party consent states, which frankly, I just don't know off the top of my head other than other than, Florida.

00:09:28:14 - 00:09:53:14
Speaker 3

But any Massachusetts, I believe, is a two party consent state. So we'll likely see some, there as well. that gets me to the wire right now. And listen, and I, I offer for Nicole to jump in here if she's seen otherwise. I've seen California and I've seen Florida, and they seem to be located only in the two counties I mentioned before, that being Broward and Palm Beach.

00:09:53:16 - 00:10:18:18
Speaker 3

now, keep in mind that does it mean that a dealership elsewhere for instance, some dealerships in Miami, clients of mine have already faced lawsuits, unless they just happen to be filed in Broward County, rightfully or wrongfully, under Florida's brand new statute. Separate issue. from what we're talking about today. Now, the when well, the when this seems to have all started in about May of 2024.

00:10:18:21 - 00:10:40:10

Speaker 3
This past year, we saw a slew of these filed by the same individual and the same attorneys starting in Broward County. And then a second individual chimed in with the same attorneys filing in both Broward and Palm Beach County. I think altogether, Nicole may have the exact number. I want to say there's about 16 of these for car dealers.
00:10:40:10 - 00:11:01:02

Speaker 3

Now, the two individuals that have been filing these, one of them did file it against some other entities, not car dealers. But you've we've all seen these chat boxes. They're not they're not, you know, solely for car dealerships to use a lot of them, we see on other websites, for example, I don't know that this is one of the entities that's face sued.

00:11:01:02 - 00:11:28:18
Speaker 3

The Home Depot, I believe has it if you go on their website or Lowe's or one of those home improvement stores and they're targeting those sort of things. And so you wiretapped me? seems to have been started, like I said, in May. it's unclear from what's been filed so far and what we know, whether that goes back as far as last year or the year before, they don't really say when they access the websites, they just say in the past they access the websites.

00:11:28:20 - 00:11:53:20
Speaker 3

It's an issue likely in and of itself. and one that unfortunately, because of the court process here in Florida and how these are being filed, we might not know until there's actually a trial on this matter. And, you know, that leads me to the how, first part of the how. I think there's really two parts, but how is how are these being handled on the litigant side, and how can these be handled on the dealer side?

00:11:53:22 - 00:12:13:25
Speaker 3

You know, my side, I represent almost exclusively auto dealers, franchised and independent dealers throughout Florida and a few up in the northeast. And you want to know, how can I deal with this? Well, the how on the litigant side is they're filing these in small claims court. and it's there's a there's a really specific reason for this, right.

00:12:13:27 - 00:12:47:23
Speaker 3

There's generally no discovery in Florida in small claims court, no motion practice, no rules of civil procedure. There's extremely limited time frame from filing a lawsuit to trial. Usually something in the 4 or 5 months is a big stretch. Whereas if you file in our general civil courts, which whether it's circuit court or county court here, you're looking at years likely before you go to trial, lots of discovery, lots of time and effort invested on the litigant that, most importantly, I think they're doing this from an economic point of view.

00:12:47:25 - 00:13:09:26
Speaker 3

There's a very limited economic investment by the litigant on the plaintiff side or their lawyer, because they can copy and paste two dozen of these same lawsuits, pay a filing fee, see what happens. But on the dealer side, these are not these are not lawsuits we see every day, especially in this context. There's time and investment from the dealers to deal with this.

00:13:09:29 - 00:13:34:28
Speaker 3

Their attorneys and myself, people that work with my office, my counterparts in other offices to learn about these laws, determine how to go about defending these laws. And ultimately, if you have to try the case, that's time and money invested on the dealer at which these these fellas that file these try to do in a way where, hey, dealer, you're better off settling this than you are fighting it, even if you're right.

00:13:35:00 - 00:14:00:00
Speaker 3

And, you know, it's an unfortunate situation, the unfortunate reality of the practice of law and justice. Now, the how how can I deal with this? You can make sure I. And I think CarNow has already put this in place for many of their vendors. If their dealerships if not all that there is proper consent obtained from the person, going into the chat before they start that chat.

00:14:00:02 - 00:14:21:00
Speaker 3

And I want to be clear, I'm not suggesting the way that it was done before it was unlawful or lawful. One way or the other. These laws, as far as I'm concerned, are not on the books to address this. This, this chat box situation does not apply to this in my opinion. But I am not a judge and I am not a jury, and I'm not the one making that determination.

00:14:21:02 - 00:14:45:24
Speaker 3

So how can we avoid it? It's make sure we get consent. CarNow now has been proactive in doing that, as far as I understand, and making sure that stair number two is having a good privacy policy in place on your websites. Make sure that any user of your website has an unavoidable way to see your privacy policy, whether that's through a pop up or a cookie banner that they have to see order to continue on your website.
00:14:45:27 - 00:15:14:28

Speaker 3

I believe CarNow and some other vendors have put those in place to make sure that this sort of situation, it is not stopped from happening is is at least limited in a capacity. And then the how I think some of these dealers have to take a stand here because we don't know where this ends. I my opinion is if we fight one of these and we prevail before a judge on one of these, the rest may fall, because right now there's no judge that is addressed in Florida.

00:15:14:28 - 00:15:33:17

Speaker 3
These specific set of facts on this specific 60 year old, a 55 year old law, and has made a determination as as to whether there's even a legal claim to be had. My gut is that the judge will make the right call and find that these have no merit, and there just needs to be one dealer to stand up and do that.

00:15:33:20 - 00:15:48:07
Speaker 3

We're in the early stages. I have some that want to fight it. I believe we're going to do that with many, and many don't want to be bothered. And they just figure, I'll settle this and I'll fight. I don't think that fixes the problem, but that's the economic reality of how these are being filed.

00:15:48:07 - 00:16:15:05
Speaker 1

So, you know, I'm not obviously that's why I have you guys on. But, you know, I can understand that thought process. But all we're doing is if we're settling with these people where we're fueling the fire because these I think, Nicole, you call them nuisance lawsuits, right? I mean, these are. And then once they, I don't want to misspeak, but maybe you can speak on that once they get, you know, whether it's five grand here or whatever the number is, if it's small claims court, it can't be too big.

00:16:15:08 - 00:16:29:27
Speaker 1

they get excited and they go off to the next one. It sounds like they're throwing as many of these to the wall as possible. And one thing I would add it it when as you were sitting here thinking, I'm like, this technically is not even it could be more than chat. So so digital retailing tools any part.

00:16:29:27 - 00:16:53:15
Speaker 1

There's lots of tools on your website that you communicate with that windows open up, whether that's, you know, trading tools, whether that's digital retailing tools, calculators, you know, all vendors, all all these things are subject to if you're not putting at least a disclaimer, you know, now, we, did provide our dealers with options on how we display that.

00:16:53:15 - 00:17:11:25
Speaker 1

And, Nicole, you can you can speak to that and then I'll add some color on what we're proactively doing. But guys, this is just one thing that we absolutely have to have to have on our radar. Unfortunately, because it's the world we live on. But hopefully going to give you a step by step process on how to eliminate it here.

00:17:11:27 - 00:17:26:10
Speaker 1

Nicole, thoughts on on what we did and the options that they have. Obviously everybody doesn't have CarNow, but what they can ask their providers to do for them.
00:17:26:13 - 00:18:09:08

Speaker 2

I think a really good point that you made is, you said kind of throwing it out there to see if it sticks. It's kind of like the spaghetti throwing it against the wall. and I think that's a really good analogy. And what what we're seeing is that this is a cut and paste. And in California, some of our colleagues, some, some lawyers that I have have worked with when I brought this up with relation to CarNow mentioned that in California they were using AI and there was a plaintiff's bar meeting, in Las Vegas, where afterwards a lot of, lawyers were sort of sending out these mass suits after that.

00:18:09:08 - 00:18:35:24

Speaker 2
So this seems to be a bit of a copycat. if I may quickly just touch upon what Josh had mentioned earlier about the states that are two parties, I think that would be helpful for people to know it's Florida, Georgia, Connecticut, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and Washington. And yes, I did have to write that down, because I'm not remembering that.

00:18:35:26 - 00:18:36:20
Speaker 1

pretty good.

00:18:36:22 - 00:19:02:14
Speaker 2

But so and and there is different kind of, you know, different dates of the laws and everything. But, you know, depending on your state, you'd have to look at that. But I think that the best thing a dealership can do is one talk to a firm like Josh's. Where at at Cdfi. Where they're actually taking a look at these collectively so that we're not settling them and encouraging it to happen again.

00:19:02:20 - 00:19:28:08
Speaker 2

Just like that person who calls up your grandmother and says you're traveling in Europe or sends an email, you're traveling in Europe to, you know, send me money. You these are akin to those, if that that approach in many ways. there there are ways to get money. As Josh said. furthermore, it's a really good opportunity for these dealerships to look at their compliance practices in general.

00:19:28:08 - 00:19:51:11
Speaker 2

I talked with the dealership yesterday that did receive a suit, and I was able to suggest to them some ways to put in place a cookie banner that would at least be a first offense to this. We don't know what the we don't know what the law is going to require or if he requires anything with regards to these chats, but we can take protective measures and preventive measures.

00:19:51:13 - 00:20:12:10
Speaker 2

That means making sure you have a well drawn up privacy policy that checks the box for the laws, the privacy laws where you lay out, and that will be state dependent because there are new state states coming out with laws every day. Rhode Island just came out with one yesterday. Texas enacted one a few, a few weeks ago.

00:20:12:12 - 00:20:42:27
Speaker 2

So in addition to that, make sure your privacy policy is prominent and and best practice, especially if you're in a two party state to two party consent state. Make sure that the individual is actually affirmatively consenting to that privacy policy. Have your terms of use available. A cookie banner is used to be two years ago, not a requirement in the United States, but now it has become common practice and is is a is recommended because it's required in many states.
00:20:42:29 - 00:21:15:07
Speaker 2

I think that's these are some of the things that CarNow has already implemented. If you're in a state that's a two party state, you will notice as a CarNow customer that that that the default is that affirmative consent. If in a chat bot in the chat, panel. And that's because we're trying to protect customers from these suits so that that down the road there aren't more in different states by these litigants who are, like Josh said, trying to make a back.

00:21:15:10 - 00:21:38:20
Speaker 1

so it was a question. So if I'm listening to this in my car and it's 11 years ago and I'm, you know, managing a sales desk at a dealership, I'm thinking, hey, you know, so maybe can I just call my web provider and have them, you know, make sure that my cookie policy, you know, because every even on, you know, on your phone, everywhere you go, you hit accept all and you move on.

00:21:38:20 - 00:21:54:21
Speaker 1

Right? So is it something that, they can put their cookie policy just as a banner and that without about something popping up within a messaging window, would that take care of it, or do they need to do both?

00:21:54:23 - 00:21:56:09
Speaker 2
We don't know.

00:21:56:12 - 00:21:59:05
Speaker 1

I guess it's up to them entirely. But what what is your thought process there?

00:21:59:10 - 00:22:19:21
Speaker 2

Unfortunately, we don't know because we haven't seen how the courts are going to rule on this. And it's not a law that applies here. So the least you should do is have a cookie banner that pops up your privacy policy and is compliant with your applicable state laws. in addition to the cookie banner popping up, it shouldn't, everyone's seen those.

00:22:19:21 - 00:22:56:19
Speaker 2

They're the annoying banners that pop up at the bottom of your screen. and we all click except all, even me. And I'm a privacy attorney. Half the time, I, like, accept all. it's going to have your privacy policy and hopefully your terms of use as well. Show up. in addition to that, what you would want to do as a best practice in a two party state, at least, if not in every state, is have the privacy policy actually come up in the chat panel now, you may be concerned about sort of is that going to deter a customer from actually proceeding within that chat?

00:22:56:25 - 00:23:02:17
Speaker 2

I don't think it's going to and that's okay. I just don't.

00:23:02:19 - 00:23:04:15
Speaker 3

Yeah.

00:23:04:17 - 00:23:07:12
Speaker 2

but I, I'm sure I'm sure you might disagree.

00:23:07:15 - 00:23:39:02
Speaker 1

Yeah. I think that, I mean, I know how I shop, I just want my information so it pops up and I'll just. Yeah, yeah. Move on. You know, so I, I think the majority of the public will a few, you know, we can have a completely different debate about you know, when there's a lot of, data around when you click on, you know, my best price or whatever it is, trade in or prequalify or whatever the call to action is on the website, and you put a form fill for them to fill things out, that's when they abandon it.

00:23:39:02 - 00:23:46:24
Speaker 1

And great numbers. But I do believe, you know, accept all and move on. I think, I think it should be fine.

00:23:46:26 - 00:24:07:05
Speaker 2

Can I try that question back at you, Tim? How many privacy policy and policies in terms of use have you read when you download an app on yourself? Never, never roughly. I'd love to think, because I draft these, that people read them all the time, but I'm very practical as an attorney. They are meant as a legal document and 99% of people are not clicking them.

00:24:07:11 - 00:24:19:18
Speaker 2

Maybe this this will make more people click them. Regardless, it is a legally binding document in the dealerships to be paying attention to what's in there to protect themselves.

00:24:19:20 - 00:24:36:21
Speaker 1

That's amazing. I mean, we have packed a lot, in 20 so minutes or so. Josh, any any final 
thoughts? I'm going to give you an opportunity to talk and, and then Nicole, and then we're going to kind of put a bow on this thing and land the plane so people can get back to work and get up through their day.

00:24:36:21 - 00:24:44:20
Speaker 1

But, so much information here, please. guys, this is the world we live in. please be careful. Josh, any final thoughts?

00:24:44:23 - 00:25:08:24
Speaker 3

Yeah. I mean, I think it's this. If we're inviting lawsuits over a chat feature on a website, what is next? How is that any different than the dozens or hundreds of times a day that we're sending and intercepting, as that terms used by these people, by these attorneys and these litigants communications. How is it any different than me sending an email and that email being stored on my web server?

00:25:08:26 - 00:25:39:03
Speaker 3

How is it any different than me sending a text message to Nicole asking her how her day was, and that being stored on her phone where does this end? And if we don't get the judiciary to put a stop to this through an affirmative order saying that there is no claim here, I my fear is that these are going to be runaway lawsuits if they decide to, that the attempt has if they succeed on one of these, what does that ruling for the industry.

00:25:39:05 - 00:26:07:00
Speaker 3
And I think that's why a lot of dealers may determined to settle this, because the fear and everyone's fear in our space, you said it earlier about tcpa compliance and all of that are these class action lawsuits that they succeed on one of these in small claims court? My guess is it's a test suit. And if they succeed, we're going to see these filed in our circuit courts here, which is our court of general jurisdiction for amounts over $50,000.

00:26:07:02 - 00:26:30:05
Speaker 3

and I suspect class action is the next step here. So my final thoughts are this. I do believe the dealers and I've talked to many of my clients about this. The cost of fighting. This might seem like a lot upfront, but the peace of mind it would give you it for successful has to mean something and has to be worth it.

00:26:30:08 - 00:26:48:16
Speaker 3

But we I know I speak for many of my dealers, and we appreciate CarNow now stepping up to the plate to work with us on these. And my hope is, Tim, that I don't have to come back on this podcast about the other side of the coin. What's the fallout from these and what are we doing? And oh my God, now there's class action lawsuits.

00:26:48:19 - 00:27:00:27
Speaker 3

My hope is that our listener as well, your listeners and my dealers will listen to this. We'll put some steps in place. One of them will step up to fight this, and maybe we can put it to an end.
00:27:00:29 - 00:27:03:14
Speaker 1
Amen. Very well said, Nicole. Thank you. Josh.

00:27:03:14 - 00:27:28:11
Speaker 2

Yeah, Josh, I couldn't agree with you more on all of that. And, I'm glad you you joined for this. And I would reiterate what you said, that a collective approach or a defensive approach rather than acquiescence is key. paying a little bit of money in the short term might seem like the better solution, but in the long term, it's it's just going to encourage the behavior.

00:27:28:14 - 00:28:05:26
Speaker 2

and it's in both for CarNow or whoever you're using for your web, for your web design or your web platform, as well as your chat panel. all dealerships should take this as an opportunity to look at their privacy posture, as I call it, and do a check up. I know that if you reach out to your CarNow represented your, representatives, your account managers, they will help you decide whether you should turn on the new features that are maybe optional if you're not a two party state, and that that may be a good protective measure.

00:28:06:02 - 00:28:24:08
Speaker 2

They can direct you towards how to get, chat, cookie banner in place if you don't already have one. they're they're really I've been very impressed with the company wanting to deal with this, to make things better, rather than just address this singular issue.

00:28:24:11 - 00:28:32:17
Speaker 1

Thank you so much, Nicole. Thank you, Josh and I had to I had to I had to push that button. I haven't.

00:28:32:19 - 00:28:33:08
Speaker 3

Could you tell me.

00:28:33:08 - 00:28:35:21
Speaker 2

Because everyone gets so excited about lawyers.

00:28:35:23 - 00:28:53:21
Speaker 1

Yes, yes. Hey ladies and gentlemen, thank you for, for for taking a few minutes out of your day. Listen, we are all in this together, and it's. We're in a business that's ever changing. And there's lawsuits that pop up here and lawsuits that pop up there. We have to protect ourselves, and we have to be on the forefront.

00:28:53:21 - 00:29:13:15
Speaker 1

So if that takes a little time, to make sure that you protect yourself. Derek Hayes at Hennessy always used to say, make sure you put your foot on a rock. So make sure you put your foot on a rock and you're covered. If you have any questions, we are going to give you Josh and Nicole's email right below.

00:29:13:16 - 00:29:38:21

Speaker 1
You can always reach out to me at tim@carnow.com and ask us any questions. Whether you're a CarNow client or not. Doesn't matter. We are in this together with all 16,500 or so franchised stores and independents and the tens of thousands as well. We are here to serve you, Josh, and Nicole. Thank you so much. And ladies and gentlemen, thank you for stopping in for another episode of Tim Talk, and we will see you soon.

00:29:38:23 - 00:29:46:24

Speaker 1
And again, I always say no one is smarter than everyone. Let's continue to get better together. Talk to you, sir.

00:29:46:26 - 00:29:47:16
Speaker 3

Thank you. Tell.

00:29:47:17 - 00:29:48:22
Speaker 2

Thank you.

00:29:48:22 - 00:29:56:06
Unknown
And I.

00:29:56:08 - 00:29:57:10
Unknown
Knew.