Words With Friends Class Action Claims Data Breach Impacts Gamers

Two Words With Friends players say that the game’s maker, Zygna, failed to protect users from a data breach that occurred in the fall of last year.

The recent Zygna data breach class action lawsuit was filed by Carol Johnson and Lisa Thomas who say they both created accounts to play Zynga games, and had their personal identifying information stolen in the 2019 Zynga data breach.

In Johnson’s case, she says that she created her Zynga account in 2016 so that she could play Words With Friends. To make the account, Johnson explains that she had to provide personal identifying information.

Thomas says she made her Zygna account before Johnson — in 2014. She allegedly made her account to play Words With Friends, as well as Draw Something. Like Johnson, Thomas says she had to provide her personal identifying information to make an account. She states that she made at least one in-app purchase from Zynga, and to do so, she provided Zygna with her debit card linked to her Google account.

The Words With Friends data breach class action lawsuit states that the two customers provided Zynga with their information with the assumption that the company would take necessary measures to store their data and protect it from theft. The customers say that company failed to do this and, as a result, injured Thomas, Johnson, and many other customers. 

Allegedly, Zynga’s stored customers’ information was breached by a hacker who goes by the name Gnostiplayers. This hacker reportedly took to The Hacker News to share that he had breached Word With Friends, and gained access to the information of more than 218 million Zynga users.

The perpetrator said that, in addition to hacking information associated with Words With Friends, he was able to access information associated with other Zynga games, including Draw Something. 

The Words With Friends class action lawsuit says that Zynga did not respond appropriately to the breach.

The customers suggest that the company could have effectively notified game users of the data breach by adding a pop-up notification about the breach into the gaming apps, but instead, the company notified customers in a way much less accessible and visible. 

Allegedly, the company’s chosen method of notifying users was on its website through a “Player Security Announcement” that some player information may have been compromised in a data breach. Johnson and Thomas assert that the company has not updated this announcement with more info since it was initially published.

The customers claim that, if they had known that Zynga would not effectively protect their data, they would not have given the company their information, made an account, or made in-app purchases. Allegedly, in the cases in which they paid money for either games or in-app purchases, they would have either not made the purchases or not paid as much as they did for them if they had been aware of the risk to their information security.

The Zynga data breach class action lawsuit goes on to stress that while all customers are affected by Zygna’s data breach, children are particularly vulnerable to injury.

Allegedly, a significant portion of those who play Zynga games are children between 13 and 17. To support this claim, the customers say that many of the company’s games are “plainly” marketed towards children, because of their easy-to-use design and colorful graphics. 

According to Johnson and Thomas, Zynga noted that it is beholden to regulations that concern collecting data from minors and protecting their information. However, the customers say that the company has not followed through on protecting these vulnerable consumers.

The plaintiffs argue that the company’s negligence put many customers at risk for fraud and identity theft, and compromised their privacy. They note that the consequences of identity theft can be long-lasting, can come with a financial hit, and can often take many hours to resolve.

Do you play Words With Friends or another Zynga game? Were you confident in the game maker’s ability to protect your information? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Johnson and Thomas are represented by Hassan A. Zavareei and Mark A. Clifford of Tycko & Zacareei LLP, and by Melissa S. Weiner and Joseph C. Bourne of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP.

The Words With Friends Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Carol Johnson, et al. v. Zynga Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-02024-JSC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

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