Woman’s Day Class Action Says Subscribers’ Personal Info Sold

A Rhode Island woman alleges that the owner of Woman’s Day magazine sold subscriber information to third party advertisers without their consent.

Lead plaintiff Christina Lachapelle claims in the Woman’s Day subscriber class action lawsuit that once Hearst Communications, the magazine owner, sold her information she received a “barrage of unwanted junk mail.”

The plaintiff says that Hearst sold her information, along with other subscribers’ information, to aggressive advertisers, including data aggregators, appenders, and cooperatives.

According to the Woman’s Day class action lawsuit, the information sold included not only customers’ personal information, but also a “myriad other personal, lifestyle, and demographic information such as gender, age, ethnicity, income, religion, parental status, and political affiliation.”

“Hearst’s disclosure of Personal Reading Information, and other personal, demographic, and lifestyle information is not only unlawful, but also dangerous because it allows for the targeting of particularly vulnerable members of society,” alleges the Woman’s Day magazine subscriber class action lawsuit.

According to the Woman’s Day magazine class action lawsuit, Hearst profits handsomely from the list of customer information they sell to third parties; however, the sale of this information presents a risk to those customers.

The plaintiff contends that third parties can filter the list in such a way to locate and target vulnerable people.

“In fact, almost any organization can rent a customer list from Hearst that contains a number of categories of detailed subscriber information. For example, almost any organization could rent a list with the names and addresses of all Woman’s Day customers who are Spanish speaking, female, over the age of 80, with no children in the household, and with a net worth of greater than $500,000,” points out the Woman’s Day subscriber class action lawsuit.

The Woman’s Day magazine class action lawsuit alleges that Hearst’s sale of customers’ personal information violates Rhode Island’s Video, Audio and Publication Rentals Privacy Act.

Lachapelle argues that this act protects her and other consumers’ “personal reading information,” including age, income, ethnicity, religion, and political affiliation, along with information about the magazines consumers subscribe to.

In addition to presenting a risk to personal privacy and confidentiality, the Woman’s Day subscriber class action lawsuit contends that the resulting deluge of junk mail and advertisements sent to subscribers is a hassle.

“Because Hearst licensed, rented, exchanged, and/or otherwise disclosed her Personal Reading Information, Plaintiff Lachapelle now receives junk mail from non-profit companies and other organizations that do not offer products or services through the mail,” alleges the Woman’s Day class action lawsuit.

“These unwarranted mailings waste Plaintiff Lachapelle’s time, money, and resources. These harassing junk mailings received by Plaintiff Lachapelle are attributable to Hearst’s unauthorized license, rental, exchange, and/or disclosure of her Personal Reading Information.”

According to the Woman’s Day subscriber class action lawsuit, Lachapelle and other subscribers never consented or even knew that their personal information would be collected and sold by Hearst.

The Woman’s Day magazine subscriber class action lawsuit seeks to represent Rhode Islanders who had their personal reading information disclosed by Hearst to third parties without their consent.

The plaintiff is seeking damages as well as an injunction for the alleged violations of Rhode Island law.

This is not the first class action lawsuit this plaintiff has filed against a magazine over allegedly selling her personal information. Lachapelle also claims Time and Sports Illustrated sold her information to third parties without permission.

The plaintiff is represented by Peter N. Wasylyk of the Law Offices of Peter N. Wasylyk and Scott A. Bursor, Joseph I. Marchese, and Philip L. Fraietta of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Woman’s Day Magazine Subscriber Info Class Action Lawsuit is Lachapelle v. Hearst Communications Inc., Case No. 1:18-cv-00534, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.