Comcast Class Action Alleges Customer Viewing Data Collected

A Comcast customer says the telecom company is collecting personal viewing information from its subscribers without their permission.

Lead plaintiff Robert Wainblat alleges in his class action lawsuit that both Massachusetts and federal laws protect the privacy of cable subscribers.

The Comcast class action claims the company flouts these laws by failing to obtain permission from subscribers before collecting their data.

“Comcast’s data collection allows it to identify, accurately and personally, the best candidates for any particular advertisement and when and where to show them those advertisements,” alleges the Comcast TV class action lawsuit.

“In addition to subscribers’ viewing histories, the [personally identifying information] that Comcast collects and uses to target ads includes customers’ incomes, ethnicities, education level, the cars they drive, the products they buy, and where they live—data Comcast acquires from other sources, like Experian, and matches with existing PII in the subscriber profiles Comcast creates, maintains, and updates.”

Wainblat says Comcast has been his television provider since 2013 and he was provided with a set-top cable box at the beginning of his subscription.

Allegedly unbeknownst to the plaintiff, the set-top box is actually “two way” cable networking equipment that allows Comcast to collect viewing information about Wainblat.

The two way set-top box provides Comcast “detailed” information about what customers watch, or personally identifiable information (PII), alleges the Comcast cable TV class action lawsuit.

Being able to collect and store this information has made Comcast an “advertising powerhouse,” says Wainblat, but the “Cable Privacy Act prohibits cable operators like Comcast from collecting such PII without customers’ consent.”

According to the Comcast class action lawsuit, Comcast uses the extensive information it gathers about its cable customers to create user profiles.

The company allegedly touts its ability to “further identify (and follow)” customers to activity conducted on their other internet enabled devices. The plaintiff contends that this means Comcast is able to identify each subscribers’ unique device.

The Comcast class action lawsuit claims that the collection of subscribers’ viewing information violates the federal Cable Privacy Act because the company fails to disclose the monitoring and requires users to opt out of data collection, rather than opting in.

Even for those Comcast subscribers who opt out, the company continues to collect personally identifiable information, alleges the plaintiff – users who opt out are just spared some of the targeted advertising plaguing modern society.

The company also violates Massachusetts law, according to the Comcast class action lawsuit, by failing to provide disclosures to the state’s residents and confessing to the extent of data sharing the company perpetrates.

The plaintiff seeks to represent those in Massachusetts who subscribe to a Comcast television service.

The Comcast class action lawsuit is seeking damages as well as a court order requiring the company to disclose the extent of the PII collected about users.

The plaintiff also wants Comcast to stop using its cable systems to collect such data, and change its policies to ensure user consent is obtained prior to the collection and dissemination of information about them.

Wainblat is represented by Charles Ahern III and Kenneth A. Newberg of Corwin & Corwin LLP.

The Comcast Viewer Data Collection Class Action Lawsuit is Wainblat v. Comcast Cable Communications LLC, et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-10976-FDS, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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