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ICANN hit with tinfoil-hat lawsuit

Kevin Murphy, March 26, 2026, 02:16:52 (UTC), Domain Policy

ICANN has been sued by a Louisiana woman who thinks the Org is surveilling her.

Wendy Renee’ Carlton (sic) filed a bizarre lawsuit last month claiming she “has experienced persistent and patterned interference affecting her cognitive processes, bodily integrity, and personal autonomy”.

Google, Microsoft, Wal-Mart and some John Does are also listed as defendants.

It’s difficult to describe the complaint (pdf), but here’s a chunk of it for flavor:

Plaintiff alleges that she has experienced persistent and patterned interference affecting her cognitive processes, bodily integrity, and personal autonomy, and that such interference is systemic in nature.

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants’ conduct resulted in the exploitation or misuse of her personal data and behavioral patterns, restricting her liberty interests and decision-making autonomy without notice, consent, or lawful authorization.

Plaintiff further alleges that Defendants collected, processed, analyzed, and/or derived her biometric, anatomical, and/or cognitive data through technological, commercial, and/or institutional frameworks without informed consent or procedural safeguards.

Plaintiff alleges that she experienced persistent surveillance, monitoring, and identity interference resulting in observable physical, cognitive, and biometric effects, including involuntary physiological responses and interference with normal bodily functions, consistent with assessment- or monitoring-based activity.

Carlton’s probably not far off — Google’s whole empire is based on mass surveillance after all — but it’s difficult to see what roles ICANN or Wal-Mart have in that enteprise.

The complaint doesn’t get into any factual specifics of what ICANN or any other defendant is supposed to have done, or what the effects on the complainant were.

ICANN has filed a motion to dismiss, claiming lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.


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