Ubisoft class action claims co. sends customer data to Meta

Ubisoft class action overview: 

• Who: Two Ubisoft users have sued the gaming giant.
• Why: The plaintiffs allege the company shared their personal information with Meta without their  consent.
• Where: The Ubisoft class action lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.

A new class action lawsuit has been filed against Ubisoft — the gaming giant known for titles like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry — with players claiming the company unlawfully shared their personal information with Meta. 

Plaintiffs Trevor Lakes and Alex Rajjoub filed the class action lawsuit against Ubisoft Inc. on Oct. 3 in a California federal court, alleging violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and the Wiretap Act, both federal laws.

The two gamers allege that Ubisoft collected their data and shared it with Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, without their consent.

The lawsuit claims that Ubisoft’s website utilized Meta’s tracking pixel to monitor and share users’ activities with Facebook, including their video game purchases and usage of the Ubisoft+ subscription service.

The plaintiffs allege that Ubisoft did not inform users that their personally identifiable information (PII) — including search terms and details of their activity on the website —was being shared with Meta. 

Information sharing ran afoul of federal law, class action claims

The VPPA prohibits video service providers from sharing PII without consent, a violation the plaintiffs say occurred every time they accessed video-related content on Ubisoft’s website.

Lakes alleges that he visited the Ubisoft website while logged into his Facebook account, and subscribed to the Ubisoft+ service on Sept. 7, 2024. He says, after that, he used the website on his Chrome browser, while logged into his Facebook account, to download at least one video game. 

Lakes claims that information was combined with the information about him found on Facebook, including his name, location, occupation, photos, relationship status, friend list and posts.

This data could then be accessed by anyone with basic technical skills, raising significant privacy concerns, the plaintiffs say.

“Data sharing policies are crucial for users when they decide to provide personal information to a service,” they say.

Lakes and Rajjoub say the alleged violations constitute “immediate and irreversible harm” to their privacy. As a result, they’re looking to represent anyone who visited Ubisoft’s website and had their PII shared with Meta without authorization. 

They’re seeking certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial, as well as an order that Ubisoft immediately cease using the Pixel or obtain proper consent from users. 

Last month, Capital One was hit with a similar class action lawsuit alleging that the financial institution shares personal customer information with Meta, Google, Microsoft and other third parties without their consent.

What do you think of the claims in this Ubisoft class action? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Sara Craig of Sara Beth Craig, Brandon Wise of Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise LLP, and Mark S. Reich and Colin A. Brown of Levi & Korsinsky LLP

The Ubisoft class action lawsuit is Trevor Lakes et al., v. Ubisoft Inc., Case No. 3:24-cv-06943-KAW in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. 

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