Consumer Reports Class Action Says Magazine Subscribers’ Info Sold

A class action lawsuit alleges that Consumer Reports sells the personal information of its magazine subscribers without gaining their consent to do so.

Plaintiff Robert Watterson says he subscribed to the magazine Consumer Reports, which is publicized by Consumer Reports Inc., and the company sold his personal information about his reading habits to third parties for a profit.

Watterson seeks damages on behalf of himself and all other similarly affected consumers, claiming he was injured by Consumer Reports’ practice of selling information, and arguing that the practice violated his privacy.

Specifically, the Consumer Reports subscriber class action lawsuit says Consumer Reports violated Rhode Island’s Video, Audio, and Publication Rentals Privacy Act.

Watterson alleges that before and at the time when he subscribed to the magazine, the company did not notify him that it made a practice of selling and renting subscriber personal information to third parties.

He says that additionally, the company did not allow him to opt out of having his information sold or rented to third parties.

However, the Consumer Reports class action claims that after Watterson subscribed, the company sold his information to data aggregators and data cooperatives.

Allegedly, these organizations supplemented his reading information with information from their own files. Watterson claims that because his information was shared, he began receiving junk mail from charities and organizations not offering products or services through direct mail.

To support his claim that the company did in fact sell subscriber information, Watterson’s Consumer Reports magazine subscriber class action lawsuit cites pages from RMI Direct Marketing, a list broker that provides those looking to rent subscriber information access to the Personal Reading Information of millions of Consumer Reports subscribers.

Allegedly, third parties can rent subscriber information based on a range of identifying factors including age, race, income, and other factors, and receive specific, identifying data like the names and addresses of subscribers who fall within certain demographic categories.

According to Consumer Reports class action lawsuit, the plaintiff did not receive the full benefit of what he was promised when he purchased a Consumer Reports magazine subscription. He says that he was promised a magazine subscription with statutory privacy protections but received one without statutory privacy protections.

Watterson alleges that he was economically injured by the company’s practice of not disclosing that they sold his personal information and then doing so, because had he known that the company would sell his information, he would not have purchased a magazine subscription with the company or would not have paid as much for one as he did.

Additionally, the Consumer Reports magazine subscription class action claims that Watterson was injured by the company’s practice of selling his information because he was bothered by the junk mail that he received as a result. He says that he spent time and effort sorting through the mail.

Watterson is represented by Joseph I. Marchese, Scott A. Bursor and Phillip L. Fraietta of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Consumer Reports Magazine Subscriber Information Sale Class Action Lawsuit is Robert Watterson v. Consumer Reports Inc., Case No. 7:18-cv-08001, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.