comScore Privacy Class Action Lawsuit

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A class action lawsuit claims that comScore, Inc. — one of the leading companies that measures and analyzes online traffic — siphons confidential information such as passwords, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers from unsuspecting users.

The comScore class action lawsuit accuses the online data tracking service of not only gathering users’ confidential information, but also scanning all files on users’ personal computers and modifying their security settings.

ComScore collects data from people who get free software and chances to enter sweepstakes in exchange for their participation. This information is then sold to more than 1,800 businesses around the world, including Facebook, Microsoft, Best Buy and Yahoo. The privacy class action lawsuit does not accuse any of comScore’s clients of any wrongdoing.

The comScore class action lawsuit says comScore’s software scans all accessible files on a user’s computer, as well as all files from other users on the same network, and transmits information about those files back to the company. The class action lawsuit also takes aim at the fact that comScore software is embedded in free screensavers, games and other applications without proper notice. Once downloaded, comScore software modifies a computer’s firewall settings and gains full rights to access and change any file on the computer.

It is nearly impossible to disable the software once it is installed, the comScore privacy class action lawsuit says.

This is not the first time privacy concerns have been raised about comScore’s collection practices, but this appears to be the first class action lawsuit filed against the company over such concerns. Privacy advocates have increasingly grown concerned about data collection, inadvertent or not, as people increasingly use the Internet to perform such tasks as shopping and banking. Google, for example, was hit with numerous privacy class action lawsuits last year after it was discovered its Google Street View Cars had “inadvertently” collected people’s private data over their unsecured Wi-Fi networks.

The comScore Privacy Class Action Lawsuit case is Mike Harris, et al. v. comScore, Inc., Case No. 11-cv-5807, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE 1: On April 5, 2013, a federal judge certified the comScore Privacy Class Action Lawsuit.

UPDATE 2:  On May 30, 2014, comScore Inc. reached a $14 millionclass action settlement to resolve the allegations raised in this case. Class Members are expected to receive approximately $200 each.

UPDATE 3: Instructions on how to file a claim for the comScore class action settlement are now available! Visit our open settlement page or www.DataCollectionSettlement.net for more information.