Groupon Tries to Block Instagram ID Class Action

Groupon has made a move to block a proposed class action lawsuit that challenges the company’s practice of allegedly using Instagram photos and usernames.

According to Groupon, their use of the usernames does not necessarily mean that the account owners can be identified because many usernames are not the users’ real name.

This move for dismissal of the Instagram photos class action lawsuit was filed with the Seventh Circuit last week.

According to Groupon, “Instagram has always allowed its users to select fictitious, fanciful, or nonsense usernames. Legions of people use Instagram anonymously.”

This fight over whether or not Instagram usernames are identifiable comes after the Groupon ID class action lawsuit was denied Class certification in March.

Christine Dancel, who had filed the Groupon Instagram class action lawsuit, attempted to have this decision reversed, an effort which Groupon is now fighting.

According to Dancel, a judge denied Class certification not based on a problem with the legal theory she presented, but had applied his own standards for what could identify someone. She argued that this was an “unsupportable interpretation.”

Dancel originally filed her Groupon Instagram photo class action lawsuit in 2016. She claimed that Groupon used a widget to pull Instagram photos tagged with locations that had Groupon advertising deals.

Allegedly, though the photos continued to be housed on Instagram, this widget allowed Groupon to show smaller versions of the images on their own site.

Dancel claimed that Groupon used a tagged photo of herself and her boyfriend that they had tagged at a restaurant. Allegedly, she was also tagged in that photo and the tag was present in Groupon’s use of it.

She argued that in using her tagged photo, Groupon used her identity “for commercial purposes” without her consent or knowledge. She claims that Groupon makes a practice of similarly using many individuals’ photos.

The Groupon image tag class action lawsuit asserts that Groupon’s actions violate the Illinois Right to Publicity Act, and seeks to represent herself and all similarly affected individuals around the country whose Instagram photos were used on the Groupon.com website for an Illinois business.

The Groupon class action lawsuit asserts that Instagram usernames qualify as a protected identifier as defined by the IRPA, because they “fall within the ordinary meaning of ‘information that serves to identify [an] individual.’”

However, Groupon shot back against this claim, saying that Instagram usernames do not qualify as a protected identity because they do not necessarily reflect a user’s identity — Instagram names can be changed and can be fictitious, according to Groupon.

Groupon points out that Dancel’s own username is “meowchristine” and argues that the name does not identify her because most people do not call her by that name.

Dancel is represented by Ryan D. Andrews, John Lawson, and Benjamin Thomassen of Edelson PC.

The Groupon Instagram Tag Class Action Lawsuit is Christine Dancel, et al. v. Groupon Inc., Case No. 1:18-cv-02027, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

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