Class Action Alleges Hearst Sells Magazine Subscriber Info

Last week a proposed class action lawsuit was filed against Hearst Communications Inc., a magazine publisher, alleging that the company illegally sold private information about its subscribers to third parties without permission.

Lead plaintiff, Michigan resident and Good Housekeeping subscriber Josephine Edwards, alleges in her class action lawsuit that Hearst allows third party “data mining” companies access to Hearst’s database of subscriber information without the permission of subscribers.

Edwards further alleges that Hearst’s database includes personal information about subscribers, including purchasing habits, gender, political affiliations, and religious practices and violates a Michigan state law called the Video Rental Privacy Act.

According to the Hearst magazine class action lawsuit, Michigan’s Video Rental Privacy Act prohibits the sharing of personal information provided by consumers about their purchasing, renting or borrowing of materials that might provide details about their identity and interests.

“As a result of Hearst’s sale and disclosure of intimate personal data,” Edwards alleges in her class action lawsuit, “Hearst’s subscribers, some of whom are the most vulnerable members of our society, are bombarded with personalized advertisements, junk-mail, and in some instances scams by mail and phone.”

“Hearst’s subscribers are completely unaware that Hearst is selling their personal information on the open market because Hearst does not obtain consent prior to selling the intimate personal data,” Edwards asserts.

In addition to violations of state law, Edwards also alleges that Hearst was unjustly enriched by the sale of private information about its subscribers and breached their agreements with subscribers.

Edwards alleges in her Hearst magazine class action lawsuit that she subscribed to Good Housekeeping, one of Hearst’s publications, for one year from 2013 to 2014. During that year, she claims that she was swamped with flyers, advertisements, and junk mail, along with unwanted telephone calls because Hearst sold her information on to data mining companies and sold mailing lists containing her personal data to companies seeking to contact Hearst subscribers.

According to the magazine subscription class action lawsuit, “These unwanted advertisements and telephone solicitations waste Ms. Edwards’s time, money, and resources, and cause her irritation, annoyance, and fear that her personal information will fall into the hands of identity and/or financial thieves and other scammers.”

Additionally, “[d]ata mining is especially troublesome when consumer information is sold to direct marketing companies,” Edwards continues. According to the class action lawsuit, data mining companies “often use information from subscriber lists to lure unsuspecting consumers, many of whom are elderly, into various scams, including fraudulent sweepstakes, charities, and buying clubs.”

The plaintiff seeks to represent a Class of Good Housekeeping subscribers residing in Michigan who had their personal data disclosed by Hearst to third parties and/or data mining companies.

Edwards is represented by John C. Carey, David P. Milian and Frank S. Hedin of Carey, Rodriguez, Milian & Gonya LLP.

The Hearst Data Mining Class Action Lawsuit is Josephine Edwards v. Hearst Communications Inc., Case No. 1:15-cv-09279, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

UPDATE July 18, 2018: Hearst Communications Inc. and lead plaintiff Josephine James Edwards recently reached a $50 million settlement to end a class action lawsuit which alleged that Hearst sold subscriber information. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know as soon as the settlement website is available.

UPDATE 2: January 2019, the Michigan Redbook, Elle magazine subscriber class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.