The Wall Street Journal Class Action Says Company Sold Subscriber Info

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A new class action lawsuit says the personal information of The Wall Street Journal subscribers was sold by the Dow Jones Company to data-mining companies without the permission of consumers.

Lead plaintiff Robert Jeremy Horton alleges in his class action lawsuit that Dow Jones violated Michigan privacy laws when it sold the personal information of its Michigan subscribers to third party data miners, marketers, and list-rental companies.

Horton says that his and other putative Class Members’ names, addresses, and demographic information is now available to these parties seeking to target particular demographics for marketing and political purposes.

“To supplement its sales and advertising revenues, Dow Jones sold the personal information of its subscribers to data miners and other third parties, without its subscribers’ consent, at various times between May 4, 2015 and July 30, 2016,” alleges The Wall Street Journal class action lawsuit.

“The information Dow Jones sold included the full names of individuals who then subscribed or had previously subscribed to a Dow Jones publication…the titles of the publication(s) each subscriber subscribed to, and the home address(es) of each subscriber…as well as myriad other personal, lifestyle, and demographic information such as the gender, age, ethnicity, income, occupation, and parental status of its subscribers.”

In addition to The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones publishes Financial News and Barron’s Magazine. According to the Dow Jones subscribers class action lawsuit, selling such information makes publishing companies like Dow Jones rich but neglects subscribers’ rights to privacy.

“While Dow Jones profits handsomely from the unauthorized sale and disclosure of its subscribers’ Personal Reading Information and other personal information, it does so without regard for their privacy interests in such information,” states The Wall Street Journal class action lawsuit.

Dow Jones sold Michigan subscribers’ personal information in violation of state law, alleges the The Wall Street Journal subscriber class action lawsuit. The plaintiff says that his information was sold to marketers, sweepstakes companies, and investment funds.

In Michigan, says Horton, the Video Rental Privacy Act (VRPA) protects customer information from being sold without written permission. The VPRA was enacted in 1988 in Michigan to protect consumers from “subtle and pervasive” surveillance based on records of purchases.

Now, points out the Dow Jones class action lawsuit, “consumer data feeds an information marketplace that supports a $26 billion dollar per year online advertising industry in the United States.”

The Federal Trade Commission, according to the plaintiff, has also recognized the monetary value of consumer data. By selling the data of its subscribers, Dow Jones subjects them to direct marketing schemes. The elderly are particularly vulnerable, says The Wall Street Journal class action lawsuit.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a Class of Michigan residents whose personal information was sold by Dow Jones from May 4, 2015 and July 30, 2016.

Horton is represented by Thomas L. Laughlin IV and Sean T. Masson of Scott & Scott Attorneys at Law LLP and Frank S. Hedin and David W. Hall of Hedin Hall LLP.

The Wall Street Journal Subscriber VRPA Class Action Lawsuit is Horton v. Dow Jones & Co. Inc., Case No. 1:18-cv¬04027, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.