Court rejects class action alleging Amazon shared viewing data without consent

Update: 

• A Washington federal judge permanently dismissed a proposed Amazon class action claiming the company illegally disclosed Amazon Prime subscribers’ viewing data, ruling that plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege any actual disclosure of personal information.
• U.S. District Judge James Robart found that despite adding 14 new paragraphs in their amended complaint, the plaintiffs’ allegations remained speculative and did not show affirmative disclosure of personally identifiable information.
• The plaintiffs claimed Amazon shares data with affiliates for advertising purposes, but the court held they could not move their claims from mere possibility to plausibility.
• The judge also noted that the plaintiffs had already amended their complaint three times and denied their request to file a fourth version.
• As a result, all claims under federal and state privacy laws, including the Video Privacy Protection Act and California’s Section 1799.3, were dismissed with prejudice.

Prime class action overview: 

• Who: Plaintiffs Meredith Beagle and Jordan Guerrero filed a class action lawsuit against amazon.com and Amazon Services, which includes Prime video.  
• Why: The class action alleges Prime shares video viewership information with parent company Amazon and other affiliates.
• Where: The Amazon class action was filed in federal court in Washington.

(July 10, 2024)

Amazon and Prime face a class action lawsuit claiming Prime shares user information with its parent company and other affiliates, a violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).

The lawsuit alleges Prime shares specific video watch and request data, which it says can be weaponized against a consumer or used for marketing purposes.

“Amazon Services discloses consumers’ [Personal Identifiable Information] PII to Amazon for audience measurement purposes, marketing purposes, market research purposes, advertising purposes and other data collection and analysis purposes,” the class action says. “None of these services are in the ordinary course of business as defined by the VPPA.”

Prime also sends information to third parties without consent, opt-out

Prime also shares the video-viewing information with third-party companies without consent or an option to opt-out for audience measurement and market research purposes, the class action says.

The VPPA only allows data sharing for specific purposes, such as a warrant from law enforcement, or for specific ordinary course of business reasons, such as debt collection, order fulfillment, request processing and transfer of ownership, according to the lawsuit.

Amazon also faces a class action lawsuit over a $2.99 monthly charge for ad-free videos it began charging to customers, including those who already paid for commercial-free service in an annual Prime membership.

Do you believe Prime shared your video-viewing information? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Shaquelle M. Duncan of Duncan Law PLLC; Melissa A. Fortunato, Lawrence P. Eagel and Casey C. DeReus of Bragar Eagel and Squire P.C.; and Amanda K. Klevorn, Korey A. Nelson, Laura S. Seggerman and Cristina Delise of Burns Charest LLP.

The Prime class action lawsuit is Beagle, et al. v. Amazon.com Inc., Case No. 2:24-cv-00316, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle.

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