Amazon class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Advertising, LLC are facing a class action lawsuit filed by a group of consumers.
- Why: The plaintiffs allege Amazon secretly collected location data and personal information on millions of Americans.
- Where: The Amazon class action lawsuit was filed in Washington federal court.
A group of 17 plaintiffs filed the class action complaint against Amazon.com Inc. and Amazon Advertising, LLC on Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington federal court, alleging violations of federal and state privacy as well as consumer protection laws.
The lawsuit alleges Amazon used software embedded in mobile devices to covertly harvest location data and personal information on millions of Americans, without user consent.
This data, the lawsuit claims, reveals highly sensitive information about individuals, such as where they live, work, worship, and receive medical treatments.
Developers may not have known about the ‘Trojan Horse’ software Amazon class action alleges
The lawsuit alleges Amazon collected the data through a software development kit (SDK) it licenses to third-party mobile applications. SDKs generally provide application developers with tools necessary to build their applications, including APIs and other automated functions that operate in the background.
The Amazon Ads SDK, the plaintiffs say, operated in the background of third-party developers’ applications on mainly Apple but also Android devices. Furthermore, the developers themselves may not have been aware of the extent to which their apps had become a “Trojan Horse” for the Amazon data harvesting mechanism.
On information and belief, the Amazon Ads SDK has been integrated into at least the following: Free Tone–Calling and Texting, Stick Hero, What’s the difference: Spot it, Snap & translate translator, Grocery list with sync, Classic Words, Letter Soup, PixWords, WeatherBug–Weather Forecast and QR reader for iPhone. Android apps include Candy Crush Saga and Subway Surfers.
“Amazon has been highly effective at integrating the Ads SDK throughout the ecosystem of mobile applications including 19,964 Android applications and 12,640 iOS iPhone applications,” the Amazon app class action lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon incentivized the adoption of the Ads SDK by purchasing advertising space using banner ads, interstitial ads, and video ads on these mobile applications, the plaintiffs say.
The plaintiffs are suing on behalf of anyone in the United States who may have fallen victim to the alleged Amazon data harvesting through the Ads SDK. They are suing for violations of the Federal Wiretap Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Washington Consumer Protection Act and various state privacy and consumer protection laws.
Plaintiffs are seeking certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
Last year, Amazon was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it illegally recorded users’ conversations through its Alexa devices without obtaining their consent.
What do you think of the allegations in this Amazon class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Thomas E. Loeser, Karin B. Swope and Jacob M. Alhadeff of Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP.
The Amazon class action lawsuit is Maria Albano, et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., et al., Case No. 2:25-cv-00252 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.
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323 thoughts onAmazon class action claims popular apps like Candy Crush Saga, WeatherBug harvested data
I was using candy crush and others unaware i was being mined. I have 2 emails
I was using candy crush and others unaware i was being mined. I have 2 emails
I am definitely part of this class although I don’t know how to prove it. And if they’ve done it with these apps you can be sure there are many more.
MY DATA IS MY DATA AND ANYONE WHO USES IT WITHOUT MY Permission, my knowledge AND WITHOUT PAYING ME is guilty not only of wiretapping and spying but also of theft. My personal data has value and I want to be reimbursed for it. How do I sign on?