VIA EMAIL AND CERTIFIED MAIL—RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
Yelp Inc.
350 Mission Street, 10th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
namarb@yelp.com
Pre-Arbitration Notice of Individual Consumer Privacy Dispute
To Whom It May Concern:
I am sending this Notice of Dispute to notify Yelp Inc., together with its subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and related entities (collectively, “Yelp”), of my individual dispute arising from my use of Yelp’s website, mobile application, and related digital services and Yelp’s use or enablement of third-party tracking technologies, together with related code, scripts, identifiers, network requests, and software processes, to capture, record, decode, read, learn, transmit, disclose, or otherwise process information associated with my electronic communications and interactions without my valid prior consent or other lawful authorization.
Nature and Basis of the Dispute
I personally used Yelp’s website, mobile application, or related digital services (collectively, the “Yelp Services”) while I was physically located in {inWhich}. I used the Yelp Services to search for, browse, evaluate, or interact with businesses, restaurants, professionals, products, services, locations, reviews, projects, ordering features, account features, or other Yelp content and functionality. To the best of my recollection, I did so within the last two years preceding this Notice.
When I used the Yelp Services, I understood that I was communicating and interacting with Yelp for ordinary informational, search, review, ordering, project, account, or other consumer purposes. I did not know or understand that the contents of my communications and interactions with Yelp, or information about those communications, would be intercepted, disclosed, or otherwise processed through third-party tracking technologies in the manner described below.
Based on my current understanding and counsel’s investigation, Yelp deployed, enabled, or caused to be deployed or enabled third-party tracking technologies associated with Meta/Facebook, Microsoft/Bing, and potentially other third-parties on the Yelp Services. These technologies, together with their associated code, scripts, cookies, identifiers, and network requests, are referred to in this Notice as the “Tracking Tools.” Upon information and belief, the Tracking Tools operated during my use of the Yelp Services and caused or permitted information associated with my communications, interactions, browser, device, or session to be transmitted or otherwise made available to those third parties.
The information captured or transmitted included or reflected, as applicable, the contents, meaning, subject matter, or context of my interactions with the Yelp Services, including information associated with my searches, including what I searched for and the locations or geographic areas I searched; the specific categories, businesses, professionals, restaurants, products, and service providers whose pages I viewed; the reviews and other content I read; the links and buttons I clicked; and my review, ordering and account activity. Separately and in addition, the Tracking Tools also captured or transmitted non-content routing, addressing, signaling, source-identifying, browser-identifying, device-identifying, session-identifying, event-identifying, and related information associated with my use of the Yelp Services. This information included page or screen URLs, page paths, referrer information, pageview and event information, timestamps, IP-address-related information, browser and device information, user-agent information, cookies, advertising or persistent identifiers, session identifiers, and related information identifying or distinguishing my browser, device, session, activity, or communications. Both categories of information were tied to the specific context and purpose of my use of the Yelp Services and were not limited to information showing only that an unidentified person visited a generic public webpage or opened an application.
Taken together, the transmitted communications, contextual information, event signals, and identifiers could permit Yelp, Meta/Facebook, Microsoft/Bing, or other recipients to associate my use of the Yelp Services with my browser, device, session, approximate location, account, identity, or activity over time. As a result, I lost control over information associated with my use of the Yelp Services and was deprived of the ability to make an informed privacy choice.
I contend that this conduct violated federal and state privacy, and anti-wiretapping laws, including laws prohibiting interception, unlawful disclosure or use of intercepted communications, and the procurement, inducement, or assistance of such conduct because Yelp aided, agreed with, employed, or conspired with one or more third parties to willfully and without my consent read, attempt to read, or learn the contents or meaning of my electronic communications with the Yelp Services while those communications were in transit, and to use or communicate information obtained through that conduct, without my valid consent or other lawful authorization. This includes related claims and theories under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510–2523, and California Penal Code §631(a).
Separately and in the alternative, I further contend that this conduct violated California Penal Code § 638.51 because Yelp installed, used, or caused the use of a pen register or trap-and-trace device, process, or functionality to capture, record, decode, or transmit the non-content routing information described above without first obtaining a court order and without my valid consent or other lawful authorization. I do not waive any other statutory, common-law, contract, privacy-policy, consumer-protection, equitable, or related claim or theory that may be supported by the facts and law.
Yelp did not obtain my valid prior consent for the conduct described above. To the extent Yelp contends that its terms of service, privacy policy, cookie policy, consent notice, or other disclosures provided authorization for the challenged conduct, I dispute that contention. More specifically, I dispute that generalized disclosures concerning cookies, pixels, analytics, advertising, service providers, personalization, targeted advertising, website or application measurement, data sharing, or similar practices provided clear, prior, specific, informed, and valid authorization for the particular tracking, interception, or transmission described in this Notice. Consent is especially lacking to the extent the Tracking Tools operated before I had a meaningful opportunity to review a relevant disclosure or make a privacy choice, operated before I affirmatively accepted non-essential tracking technologies, operated despite my rejection of such technologies, or continued to operate after an opt-out request or similar privacy-preference signal. I am not aware of any court order, judicial authorization, statutory authorization, or other lawful authority permitting Yelp, Meta/Facebook, Microsoft/Bing, or any related entity to install, use, or operate the challenged Tracking Tools in connection with my electronic communications and interactions with the Yelp Services.
Relief Sought
I seek all relief available under applicable law, including statutory damages where available; restitutionary relief and disgorgement; injunctive and equitable relief requiring Yelp to cease the challenged tracking practices; attorneys’ fees, arbitration fees, costs, and any additional relief available under law, contract, arbitration rules, or equity. My current good-faith demand is $5,000, subject to supplementation after Yelp provides records sufficient to evaluate the total amount and full scope of relief available. Because the number, timing, nature, and scope of any violations depend on records presently within Yelp’s possession, custody, or control, as well as records maintained by third-party vendors and service providers, I reserve the right to supplement my damages calculation and requested relief after those records become available.
Please preserve all records reasonably related to the challenged tracking practices, including tracking-activation logs from my sessions; configuration and deployment records for those technologies; installation, modification, and removal records for each; vendor and personnel records identifying who deployed or configured the tracking technologies and the third parties who received the data; and account, session, device, and consent records tied to me.
Informal Resolution
I am providing this Notice in good faith to give Yelp an opportunity to discuss an informal resolution of my dispute before formal proceedings become necessary. Without conceding that any pre-dispute notice, informal-resolution process, waiting period, or other condition precedent is contractually required, applicable, enforceable, or unsatisfied, I am willing to engage in good-faith informal-resolution discussions during the 60 days following Yelp’s receipt of this Notice. I reserve the right to initiate arbitration or another proceeding sooner if reasonably necessary to preserve my claims.
If the dispute is not resolved, I am prepared to initiate individual arbitration before NAM and pursue any other available remedy. See Yelp, Terms of Use, https://terms.yelp.com/tos/en_us/20260101_en_us/ (last visited July 23, 2026). If arbitration becomes necessary, I will seek all recoverable attorneys’ fees and, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, contract, and arbitral rules, the maximum permissible allocation to Yelp of filing fees, administrative fees, arbitrator compensation, and other arbitration-related costs. My election to pursue arbitration does not concede that arbitration is mandatory or exclusive.
I expressly reserve all arguments and objections concerning the existence, validity, formation, assent, notice, identity and applicable version, applicability, scope, interpretation, and enforceability of any arbitration or related dispute-resolution terms Yelp may invoke. These reservations include any term concerning pre-dispute notice, informal resolution, cure, waiting periods, or other conditions precedent; contractual deadlines or limitations periods; governing law, forum, venue, administrator or arbitrator selection, arbitral rules, or delegation; confidentiality; individual-only, consolidated, coordinated, batched, bellwether, or mass-filing procedures; fees, deposits, costs, or fee shifting; waivers or restrictions on claims, procedures, remedies, or relief; and amendments or modifications. I also reserve all arguments that any such requirement was satisfied, substantially complied with, waived or forfeited by Yelp, excused, inapplicable, or unenforceable. Nothing in this Notice waives any claim, remedy, objection, defense, or right to proceed in any otherwise available forum.
I authorize Yelp to communicate with my counsel identified below regarding this dispute and to produce to them all records and information associated with me that are reasonably necessary to evaluate and resolve this dispute.
This Notice is not a complete statement of all facts, claims, legal theories, damages, remedies, defenses, objections, responses, or grounds. I reserve the right to amend, supplement, refine, narrow, expand, or otherwise modify this Notice and my requested relief based upon additional investigation, records, technical analysis, discovery, expert review, arbitration proceedings, litigation proceedings, or other information. If Yelp believes that additional information is required to evaluate or resolve this dispute, please identify the specific information requested and the contractual or legal basis for the request.
Please direct all communications concerning this dispute to my counsel identified below.
Sincerely,