Viacom Class Action Says Gaming Apps Spy on Kids

UPDATE 3: November 2020, Disney, Viacom, and other mobile app providers agreed to settle the child privacy class action lawsuits. The settlement provides injunctive relief in the form of not collecting data from gamers under a certain age. Click here to learn more.

UPDATE 2: On May 22, 2019, a class action lawsuit alleging that a number of app developers unlawfully scrape data from child video game players will proceed, per a California federal judge’s decision.

UPDATE: On Aug. 3, 2018, a number of app developers including Disney and Viacom argue that class action lawsuits alleging they illegally collect data about children should be dismissed.

Viacom was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging the company uses mobile games to secretly collect information about children.

The same mother who filed an earlier class action claiming Disney uses gaming apps to secretly collect children’s information, alleges in this lawsuit that Viacom is doing the same thing.

Plaintiff Amanda Rushing says Viacom uses information provided by children when they are playing mobile games to develop targeted advertising.

“Children are especially vulnerable to online tracking and the resulting behavioral advertising,” alleges the class action noting comments from The Center for Digital Democracy. “As children’s cognitive abilities still are developing, they have limited understanding or awareness of sophisticated advertising and therefore are less likely than adults to distinguish between the actual content of online gaming apps and the advertising content that is targeted to them alongside it. Thus, children may engage with advertising content without realizing they are doing so.”

According to the Viacom class action lawsuit, when the plaintiff’s daughter played a game called “Llama Spit Spit” developed by Viacom, identifiable personal information was collected and then used by third parties to develop targeted advertising to the minor.

“[S]upporting the highly offensive nature of [Viacom’s] conduct is the fact that [Viacom’s] principal goal was to surreptitiously monitor plaintiffs and class members — in one of the most private spaces available to an individual in modern life — and to allow third parties to do the same,” Rushing argues.

The plaintiff says Viacom uses insidious software that embeds itself across multiple apps within the mobile phone to extract personal information about her daughter. Rushing claims Viacom then sells this private information to third parties.

“Most consumers, including parents of children consumers, do not know that apps created for children are engineered to surreptitiously and unlawfully collect the child-users’ personal information, and then exfiltrate that information off the smart device for advertising and other commercial purposes,” the Viacom lawsuit states.

The class action complaint contends that Viacom’s collection and use of personal information about children violates the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Further, the plaintiff claims Viacom is in violation of state laws.

Rushing seeks to represent a multi-state Class of individuals under the age of 13 whose private information was collected by Viacom while using a mobile app, along with a California subclass.

The plaintiff seeks an order stopping Viacom from obtaining and selling personal information about children it receives through mobile apps and sequestering the allegedly illegally obtained information. The plaintiff is also seeking damages.

Rushing is represented by attorneys Michael W. Sobol, Nicholas Diamand, Douglas I. Cuthbertson and Abbye R. Klamann of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, and by Hank Bates, Allen Carney and David Slade of Carney Bates & Pulliam PLLC.

The Viacom Gaming Apps Data Collection Class Action Lawsuit is Amanda Rushing v. Viacom Inc., et al., Case No. 3:17­-cv-­04492, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.