has permitted a plaintiff to bring suit for violations of federal
privacy law absent any indication of pecuniary harm.19
The plaintiffs here base their claims on highly specific
allegations that the defendants, in the course of serving
advertisements to their personal web browsers, implanted
tracking cookies on their personal computers. Irrespective of
whether these allegations state a claim, the events that the
complaint describes are concrete, particularized, and actual as
to the plaintiffs. To the extent that the defendants believe that
the alleged conduct implicates interests that are not legally
protected, this is an issue of the merits rather than of standing.
The plaintiffs show injury in fact, and we have
jurisdiction to address the merits of their claims.20
18
Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, 455 U.S. 363, 373 (1982)
(alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted); see
also Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs.
(TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 183 (2000) (“[E]nvironmental
plaintiffs adequately allege injury in fact when they aver that
they use the affected area and are persons for whom the
aesthetic and recreational values of the area will be lessened
by the challenged activity.”) (internal quotation marks
omitted).
19
See Doe v. Chao, 540 U.S. 614, 641 (2004) (Ginsburg, J.,
dissenting) (“Doe has standing to sue, the Court agrees, based
on ‘allegations that he was “torn . . . all to pieces” and
“greatly concerned and worried” because of the disclosure of
his Social Security number and its potentially “devastating”
consequences.’”).
20
The District Court had subject matter jurisdiction over the
plaintiffs’ federal law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. It had
15