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Hearst Magazines Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A Cosmo reader has lodged a class action lawsuit against Hearst Communications, Inc.
- Why: The plaintiff claims Hearst, the publisher of many major magazines, unlawfully sells the identities of its subscribers to third party data brokers without their subscribers consent.
- Where: The class action lawsuit seeks to represent Hearst magazine subscribers in Alabama.
Hearst magazine subscriber information was unlawfully sold to third party data brokers without their consent, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Lead plaintiff and Cosmo subscriber Tiffani Anderson claims Hearst unlawfully rents, exchanges, or otherwise discloses the personal information of its magazine subscribers to data miners, data aggregators, data cooperatives and data appenders.
Anderson alleges that Hearst — which owns magazines including Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Seventeen, O, the Magazine, and Country Living, among others — shares subscriber information with list rental recipients, list exchange recipients, and/or list brokers.
Anderson wants to represent an Alabama Class of Hearst magazine subscribers who had their identities contained in or on a data brokerage product the company sells to third parties.
Hearst Magazine Subscribers Not Told Info Sold to Advertisers, Says Class Action
The plaintiff — who says she has been subscribed to Cosmopolitan magazine for around 15 years — claims she never provided Hearst with consent to use her identity in products sold to third party data brokers.
“Hearst does not seek its customers’ prior consent, written or otherwise, for any of these disclosures, and its customers remain unaware that their identities are being rented and exchanged on the open market,” states the class action lawsuit.
In addition to failing to seek any form of consent to share the data of subscribers, Anderson claims Hearst does not require subscribers to read or agree to a terms of service or privacy policy and does not provide any notice before “misappropriating” their identities.
Anderson claims Hearst keeps a “vast digital database” consisting of the subscription histories and preferences of its magazine subscribers.
Hearst packages this content to share with appenders and data aggregators, which in turn shares with Hearst the information they separately have on the magazine subscribers, the class action lawsuit alleges.
Anderson argues Hearst uses this information to put together a data brokerage product it licenses to its clients and discloses to data cooperatives, which in turn give them access to their own subscriber databases.
“Regardless of how the consumer subscribes, Hearst never requires the individual to read or agree to any terms of service or privacy policy, let alone one that would allow it to misappropriate their property rights with impunity,” states the class action lawsuit.
Anderson claims Hearst is violating the Alabama Right of Publicity Act by selling the identities of magazine subscribers without their consent.
The Alabama Right of Publicity Act stipulates a person or entity must obtain consent before using “the indica of identity of a person, on or in products, goods, merchandise, or services entered into commerce in this state, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, goods, merchandise or services,” according to the class action lawsuit.
Hearst is also in violation of the Alabama Right of Publicity Act whether it sells its subscribers’ identities for profit or not, the class action lawsuit alleges.
Anderson is demanding a jury trial and requesting injunctive relief, restitution, and compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages for herself and all Class Members.
A similar class action lawsuit was filed last month against Consumer Reports by an Ohio consumer who alleges the company unlawfully shares the identities of its subscribers with third parties.
Also last month, the Federal Trade Commission unveiled a staff report discussing how internet service providers collect, store, use, and monetize the data of customers.
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The plaintiff is represented by Philip L. Fraietta and Julian C. Diamond of Bursor & Fisher, P.A., and Ari J. Scharg and Benjamin Thomassen of Edelson PC.
The Hearst Magazines Class Action Lawsuit is Anderson v. Hearst Communications, Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-08895, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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21 thoughts onHearst Magazines Sold Cosmo, Esquire, Country Living Subscriber Info Without Consent, Alleges Class Action
Please include me in this. I received 2 magazines from Hearst. I stopped my subscriptions about a year ago. I have noticed that spam calls have greatly lessened to my phone. Now I understand why. Sad that a company of that size feels like it’s OK or necessary to sell client information.