Hearst class action claims apps share user information with Google, other third parties

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Hearst apps class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Michele Saunders and Richard Hayden filed a class action lawsuit against Hearst Television Inc. 
• Why: Saunders and Hayden claim Hearst knowingly and intentionally shares the personally identifiable information of its mobile app users with third parties without their consent. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts federal court. 
• What are my options: Norton LifeLock provides data security options.

Hearst Television knowingly and intentionally discloses the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of individuals who use its various mobile applications with unrelated third parties, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiffs Michele Saunders and Richard Hayden claim Hearst allegedly shares its users’ PII, including their video viewing histories, without their knowledge or consent. 

Saunders and Hayden argue Hearst, which provides mobile apps with videos related to local and national news, sports, traffic, politics and entertainment, violates the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA). 

“The VPPA prohibits ‘[a] video tape service provider who knowingly discloses, to any person, personally identifiable information concerning any consumer of such provider,’” the Hearst class action states.

Saunders and Hayden want to represent a nationwide class of individuals who used a Hearst mobile app with location services enabled to watch videos and had their PII transmitted to a third party. Additionally, they want to represent subclasses of individuals who used Hearst’s WCVB 5 App and WMUR 9 App with location services enabled to watch videos and had their PII transmitted to a third party. 

Hearst integrates program interface into mobile apps to share user data, class action says

Hearst integrates a pair of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) known as Braze and DoubleClick into its mobile apps, allowing it to open the apps’ data and functionality internally and share it with third party developers and business partners, the Hearst class action alleges.

“Defendant utilizes each and every one of these features of the Braze API in its apps and sends its consumers’ PII to Braze through the Braze API in order to assist with Defendant’s marketing, advertising and analytics efforts,” the Hearst class action states. 

Saunders and Hayden claim Hearst does this without making the required disclosures to its users or getting consent to disclose their PII to third parties. 

They demand a jury trial and request declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of statutory and punitive damages for themselves and all class members. 

A pair of Good Housekeeping subscribers filed a similar class action lawsuit against Hearst in November 2021, arguing the company unlawfully sells and rents its subscribers’ personal information to third parties. 

Have you used a Hearst mobile app with location services enabled? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by James J. Reardon Jr. of Reardon Scanlon LLP and Yitzchak Kopel, Max S. Roberts and Christopher R. Reilly of Bursor & Fisher, P.A.

The Hearst apps class action lawsuit is Saunders, et al. v. Hearst Television Inc., Case No. 1:23-cv-10998, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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