Vizio Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Smart TVs Contain Tracking Software

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Leading smart TV manufacturer Vizio Inc. faces a potential class action lawsuit over claims that the company secretly installed invasive tracking software into its smart TVs in order to collect information about what shows customers watch.

Plaintiff Palma Reed of California has accused Vizio and their partner Cognitive Media Networks Inc. of fraudulent omission alleging that the companies intentionally hid the tracking software from customers making it a default setting that takes several steps to uncover.

The Vizio class action lawsuit claims that the software installed on Vizio Smart TVs monitors in real time what television consumers are watching and then reports back to the server operated by Cognitive. This data is then provided to advertisers and third-party data brokers, according to the class action lawsuit.

Reed claims that at no point did the defendants provide information to customers that they were being tracked nor did they receive permission to do it. Instead, lead plaintiff Reed says that Vizio hid references about its tracking software in “obscure settings menus, knowing that no consumers would uncover them.”

According to the Vizio smart TV class action lawsuit, Reed purchased two televisions for close to $1,000. The plaintiff alleges that she then connected the smart TVs to her home wireless network and began watching movies and television shows through the provided applications. Reed claims that had she known the Vizio smart TVs contained tracking software, she never would have purchased them.

The Vizio TV class action lawsuit includes several allegations including unjust enrichment. Reed argues that when television consumers agree to have their viewing habits tracked, they are financially compensated for it. She points to The Nielsen Company who typically pays consumers $10 for one-time access to their viewing records.

Reed also alleges violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act which often awards statutory damages of $2,500 per violation.

Vizio released a statement regarding its data collection process last week claiming that “Nonpersonal identifiable information may be shared with select partners … to permit these companies to make, for example, better-informed decisions regarding content production, programming and advertising.”

Reed is seeking more than $5 million in the Vizio smart TV class action lawsuit. She is hoping to reimburse future Class Members for actual damages incurred by purchasing a Vizio smart TV. The Vizio privacy class action lawsuit also seeks to prevent the defendants from continuing the practice of installing tracking software onto their smart TVs.

If the Vizio class action lawsuit is approved, it will be open to all Class Members living in the United States who purchased a Vizio smart TV with a tracking software installed. Reed anticipates this will include hundreds of thousands of TV customers.

Reed is represented by Samuel M. Lasser and Rafey S. Balabanian of Edelson PC.

The Vizio Smart TV Tracking Software Class Action Lawsuit is Reed v. Cognitive Media Networks Inc., et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-05217, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Jan. 25, 2016, Vizio received word that a private mediator will be allowed to attempt to resolve claims in this proposed class action lawsuit. 

UPDATE 2: On Apr. 11, 2016, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML)centralized 20 class action lawsuits accusing Vizio of secretly installing tracking software in its Smart TVs to find out what users were watching.UPDATE 3: On Nov. 7, 2016, a group of consumers alleging Vizio violates their privacy by illegally tracking what they watch is urged a federal court toreject the company’s motion to dismisstheir class action lawsuit, saying the argument has a “catch-me-if-you-can quality.”UPDATE 4: On Nov. 29, 2016, Vizio urged a judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging it improperly collects and shares data about smart TV users’ habits without their consent, claiming the plaintiffs are misinterpreting federal privacy laws.UPDATE 5: On July 25, 2017, a federal judgedenied all of Vizio’s requests in its motion to dismiss and strike. UPDATE 6: On June 28, 2018, the preliminary agreement for theVizio data privacy class action lawsuit settlement will be submitted to federal court in September.UPDATE 7: On Oct. 4, 2018, smart TV owners reached asettlement worth $17 millionin a class action lawsuit alleging Vizio secretly recorded and sold information about viewers’ watching habits.UPDATE 8: On Feb. 8, 2019, the Vizio smart TV class action settlement is now open.Click here to file a claim.