Netflix Deletes Rental History Under Class Action Settlement

UPDATE: A federal judge granted final approval to the $9 million Netflix Privacy Class Action Lawsuit Settlement on March 18, 2013.

Details about the $9 million Netflix class action settlement we reported on in February have finally been released. Unfortunately, the class action settlement does not provide monetary relief to Class Members, but it does provide certain other benefits.The Netflix settlement will resolve a 2011 privacy class action lawsuit accusing the company of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act and California consumer protection laws. The VPPA forbids video rental agencies from sharing information about what their current and former customers have been watching, and also requires them to destroy certain data within one year “from the date that the information is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.”

Netflix was violating the VPPA by retaining records of the DVD and Internet videos that its subscribers watched for up to two years after they cancelled their subscriptions, the class action lawsuit claimed. Netflix argued it was only retaining customers’ viewing histories so that they could see their old video queries if they reactivated their subscriptions.

As part of the Netflix class action lawsuit settlement, Netflix has agreed to delete former users’ video history and queue data within one year after they leave the service.

Out of the $9 million class action settlement, $6.65 million will go to various privacy organizations, while $2.25 will go to the attorneys who filed the case.

A Final Fairness hearing will be held June 29.