DirecTV, CenturyLink Class Action Says Customers’ Bills Publicly Available

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A class action lawsuit claims that DirecTV and CenturyLink unlawfully made consumer bills publicly available.

Plaintiff James Jantos says that he was a customer of DirecTV, subscribing to internet, telephone, and satellite television services through the provider and its satellite contractor, CenturyLink.

He claims that he and others were able to access his bill, and personally identifying information through online public access. Jantos alleges that this is a violation of the Communications Act, and that thousands of consumers are similarly affected.

The DirecTV class action lawsuit seeks to establish a Class of individuals who were consumers of DirectTV and CenturyLink billed for joint services from the two companies and had their personally identifiable information made publicly available by the companies at any time since March 19, 2014.

Jantos claims that through a simple Google search, with no password access needed, he was able to find his DirecTV, CenturyLink bill online. He claims that the bill contained personal information including his “name, address, phone number, phone numbers that he had called and received calls from, and his DirecTV/DirecTV, LLC, billings.”

The DirecTV, CenturyLink class action lawsuit states that Sharp further investigated the availability of the information, even asking another person to see if they could find his information publicly available online. They confirmed that they could. Jantos claims that he then conducted research to see if he could find similar information on other DirecTV and CenturyLink subscribers, and found that he was able to do so.

Sharp says this research showed him that this lack of sufficient privacy surrounding sensitive information impacted many if not all of DirecTV and CenturyLink’s consumers, and constituted a widespread practice by the companies.

The CenturyLink, DirecTV public bills class action lawsuit claims that the companies’ practice of making bills publicly available violates the Communications Act. The DirecTV class action lawsuit alleges that the Communications Act prohibits disclosure of private information by companies, and created specifically robust privacy protections for customers of satellite services, noting that the protections “prohibited satellite carriers from disclosing personally identifying information about a subscriber without prior consent.”

Jantos claims that DirecTV and CenturyLink failed to “take such actions as are necessary to prevent unauthorized access to personal information,” as required by the Communications Act.

The plaintiff seeks damages for himself and all similarly affected consumers. The damages he seeks are allegedly covered by the Communications Act, including “actual damages, but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of $100 a day or $1,000, whichever is higher,” along with punitive damages and compensation for attorneys’ fees and lawsuit costs.

Jantos is represented by Chris R. Youtz and Richard E. Spoonemore of Siranni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger and Michael David Myers of Myers & Company PLLC.

The DirecTV CenturyLink Privacy Violation Class Action Lawsuit is James Jantos v. DirecTV, et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-00413, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.

UPDATE: On June 11, 2018, a DirecTV consumer recently fought the television company’s arbitration bid, arguing that cited arbitration clauses in consumer agreements illegally limit rights to seek remedies and cannot be enforced.

UPDATE 2: On Oct. 12, 2018, consumers have obtained a settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging DirecTV and CenturyLink made their bills available to the public.

UPDATE 3: On June 14, 2019, the CenturyLink, DirecTV billing privacy class action settlement received final approval. Let us know on our Top Class Actions Facebook page when you get a check in the mail!