VIA CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
CARFAX, Inc.
Attn: General Counsel
5860 Trinity Parkway, Suite 600
Centreville, VA 20120
Pre-Arbitration Notice of Individual Consumer Privacy Dispute
To Whom It May Concern:
I am sending this Notice of Dispute to notify CARFAX, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and related entities (collectively, “Carfax”), of my individual dispute arising from my use of Carfax’s services and Carfax’s deployment or enablement of third-party tracking code and related technologies in connection with, and during, my electronic communications and interactions with Carfax without my valid prior consent or other lawful authorization.
Nature and Basis of the Dispute
I used Carfax’s services while physically located in {answer_2}. During my use of those services, I {answer_3} and otherwise communicated and interacted with Carfax. To the best of my recollection, this use occurred within the applicable limitations period.
Based on my current understanding and counsel’s investigation into Carfax’s tracking practices, Carfax deployed, enabled, or caused the deployment of tracking code associated with TikTok and Meta/Facebook including on Carfax.com. That investigation showed that the tracking code caused or permitted the contents of electronic communications with Carfax, or information reflecting the substance and meaning of those communications, to be contemporaneously transmitted or otherwise made available to TikTok, Meta, or other third parties. Depending on the interaction, the information transmitted or made available included or reflected Search events transmitting full vehicle search information directly to TikTok including vehicle make, model, and zip code as a discrete event type, as well as ViewContent and InitiateCheckout events. Facebook similarly records ViewContent and InitiateCheckout events, with vehicle VIN numbers included in the URL transmitted to Facebook on both pageview and InitiateCheckout events at the checkout stage. Additionally, search result URLs encode the vehicle make, model, and location. Taken together, these findings support a reasonable inference that Carfax deployed or enabled the challenged tracking code not merely to process communications between consumers and Carfax, but to associate information reflecting the contents or substance of those communications with consumer identifiers or persistent behavioral profiles and to facilitate the subsequent profiling, use, disclosure, targeted advertising, marketing, commercial exploitation, or other unlawful downstream use of that information.
Upon information and belief, the challenged tracking code operated in the manner described above in connection with my electronic communications and interactions with Carfax, causing or permitting the contents or substance of my communications to be contemporaneously transmitted or otherwise made available to TikTok, Meta, or other third parties.
I did not provide legally sufficient prior consent or authorization for TikTok, Meta, or another unrelated third party to contemporaneously receive, read, learn, or otherwise acquire the contents of my electronic communications with Carfax as described above.
Separately, the investigation showed that the challenged tracking code and related technology recorded or decoded non-content dialing, routing, addressing, signaling, or related information associated with electronic communications and interactions with Carfax. This information included or reflected, as applicable, IP addresses, URLs, referring URLs, timestamps, user agent information, the _ttp cookie and anonymous_id parameter, or other identifiers associated with the source, destination, routing, addressing, or transmission of those communications. Upon information and belief, the challenged tracking technology operated in this manner in connection with my electronic communications and interactions with Carfax, thereby recording or decoding non-content dialing, routing, addressing, signaling, or related information associated with my communications.
I contend that the conduct described above violated applicable federal and state anti-wiretapping, interception, eavesdropping, and electronic-surveillance laws, including the federal Wiretap Act, as amended by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510–2523, including 18 U.S.C. § 2511, by intentionally intercepting, endeavoring to intercept, procuring, enabling, or otherwise causing the interception of my electronic communications in violation of federal law. These claims include any applicable theories concerning interception, procurement or assistance of interception, and use or disclosure of unlawfully intercepted communications recognized under the law governing my communications.
I further contend that Carfax violated California Penal Code §§ 638.50–638.51 by installing, using, enabling, or causing the use of a pen-register device or process that recorded or decoded non-content dialing, routing, addressing, signaling, or related information associated with my electronic communications, without first obtaining the required court order and without any applicable statutory exception or other lawful authorization.
I reserve all other statutory, common-law, contractual, consumer-protection, privacy, equitable, or related claims, theories, rights, and remedies supported by the facts and applicable law.
Relief Sought
I presently seek $5,000 in monetary relief to resolve this dispute. This amount reflects my present good-faith settlement demand based on the information currently available, including the claims asserted and the remedies potentially available under applicable federal and state anti-wiretapping, interception, eavesdropping, and electronic-surveillance laws, and other applicable law. I also seek injunctive relief requiring Carfax to cease the challenged tracking practices unless and until Carfax brings those practices into compliance with applicable law.
Nothing in this Notice waives any claim, remedy, or right to seek different or additional relief if subsequently discovered facts, applicable law, or the course of proceedings establishes entitlement to such relief. Nor does this Notice constitute any concession concerning the number, measure, or proper unit of violations or damages.
Informal Resolution
I am providing this Notice in good faith to afford Carfax an opportunity to resolve this dispute before formal proceedings become necessary. I am willing to engage in good-faith resolution discussions during the 60 days following Carfax’s receipt of this Notice. If the dispute is not resolved, I am prepared to pursue arbitration before the AAA and pursue any other available remedy.
Nothing in this Notice constitutes a concession or waiver concerning the existence, formation, assent to, notice of, applicable version, applicability, scope, interpretation, or enforceability of any arbitration, dispute-resolution, or related procedural provision Carfax may invoke, including any procedures or conditions governing the initiation, administration, or resolution of a dispute. I expressly reject—and do not consent to—any unilateral amendment or modification to Carfax’s terms unless I affirmatively agree in a separate, signed writing. I further reserve all arguments that any purported requirement has been satisfied or substantially complied with, waived or forfeited, excused, inapplicable, or unenforceable. Nothing in this Notice waives any claim, remedy, defense, objection, or right to proceed in any forum otherwise available under applicable law.
This Notice is based on the information currently available and is not intended as an exhaustive statement of all facts, claims, theories, or remedies. I reserve the right to supplement this Notice as additional information becomes available.
Carfax should take reasonable steps to preserve documents and electronically stored information relevant to this dispute, including information concerning the challenged tracking technologies, their configuration and operation, my relevant interactions with Carfax’s services, and the information collected, recorded, or transmitted in connection with those interactions.
If Carfax considers this Notice deficient in any manner, please notify my attorneys so that they may consider and respond during the informal-resolution process.
I authorize Carfax to communicate with my counsel identified below and to produce to them all records and information associated with me that are reasonably necessary to evaluate and resolve this dispute.
Please direct all communications concerning this matter to my counsel identified below.
Sincerely,