Hot Rod Class Action Says Magazine Sells Subscriber Info

Hot Rod magazine subscribers may have had their personal information sold to third party advertisers, according to a new class action lodged against TEN: Publishing Media LLC.

Lead plaintiff Thomas Forton alleges in the Hot Rod class action lawsuit that his information was given to “aggressive” third parties, such as advertisers, political organizations, and non-profits and “as a result, Mr. Forton has received a barrage of unwanted junk mail.”

Forton says the information was disclosed in June and July of 2016. The plaintiff contends that, since he is a resident of Michigan, TEN violated the state’s privacy laws.

According to the Hot Rod class action lawsuit, promotional material for subscribers’ information indicates that for a mere 11¢ a person, third party advertisers can purchase access to information based on subscribers’ gender and other personal traits.

The Hot Rod class action lawsuit says that TEN also sells the personal information of those who receive Motor Trend, another one of its publications.

“To supplement its revenues, TEN rents, exchanges, or otherwise discloses its customers’ personal information—including their full names, titles of magazines subscribed to, and home addresses (collectively ‘Personal Reading Information’), as well as myriad other personal, lifestyle, and demographic information such as gender, age, ethnicity, income, religion, parental status, and political affiliation—to data aggregators, data appenders, data cooperatives, and other third parties without the written consent of its customer,” alleges the Hot Rod magazine class action.

The Hot Rod class action lawsuit points out that because TEN “rents” subscriber information to third parties, rather than selling it, the company can “disclose the information time and time again to countless third parties.”

“TEN’s disclosure of Personal Reading Information, and other personal, demographic, and lifestyle information is not only unlawful, but also dangerous because it allows for the targeting of particularly vulnerable members of society,” contends the complaint.

“In fact, almost any organization can rent a customer list from TEN that contains a number of categories of detailed subscriber information. For example, almost any organization could rent a list with the names and addresses of all Hot Rod customers who are female, over the age of 50, and with a net worth of greater than $500,000.”

According to the Hot Rod class action lawsuit, Michigan enacted strict privacy laws decades ago to protect its residents from the “subtle and pervasive form of surveillance” – advertisers’ ability to trace customers’ information, including “loves, likes, and dislikes,” by following their transactions.

As a result of TEN’s allegedly illegal disclosure of his personal information, Forton says that he and other subscribers were subject to unwanted junk mail. Forton says that this unwanted mail is a waste of his time and resources, and he would not have purchased or paid as much for his Hot Rod subscription had he known his information would be provided to third parties.

“While TEN profits handsomely from the unauthorized rental, exchange, and/or disclosure of its customers’ Personal Reading Information and other personal information, it does so at the expense of its customers’ privacy and statutory rights because TEN does not obtain its customers’ written consent prior to disclosing their Personal Reading Information.”

The Hot Rod class action lawsuit seeks to represent Michigan residents who subscribed to a TEN publication. The plaintiff wants a court order stopping TEN from selling Michigan subscriber information, as well as damages.

The plaintiff is represented by Joseph I. Marchese and Philip L. Fraietta of Bursor & Fishers PA, Frank S. Hedin and David W. Hall of Hedin Hall LLP, Nick Suciu III of Barbat Mansour & Suciu PLLC.

The Hot Rod Magazine Subscription Class Action Lawsuit is Forton v. TEN: Publishing Media LLC, Case No. 1:19-cv-11814-JEL-PTM, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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