American Eagle class action claims company ‘wiretaps’ customer chat conversations

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American Eagle class action overview: 

• Who: An American Eagle Outfitters customer sued the retailer. 
• Why: The plaintiff says the company illegally records the private conversations of consumers using the chat function on its website.
• Where: The American Eagle class action lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.

American Eagle Outfitters illegally records the private conversations of consumers using the chat function on its website, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Miguel Licea filed the class action lawsuit against American Eagle Outfitters Inc, Sept. 28 in a California federal court, alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). 

According to the lawsuit, American Eagle Outfitters secretly wiretaps the private conversations of everyone who communicates through the chat feature at www.ae.com and allows a third party to eavesdrop on such communications in real time.

At the same time, AE does not obtain visitors’ consent to either the wiretapping or the eavesdropping, the lawsuit alleges.  

American Eagle class action alleges company does not warn website visitors about recording

The vast majority of website operators comply with the CIPA  by conspicuously warning visitors if their conversations are being recorded or if third parties are eavesdropping on them, the lawsuit states.

“Instead, Defendant both wiretaps the conversations of all website visitors and allows a third party to eavesdrop on the conversations,” the American Eagle class action claims. “[AE] and third parties can then harvest data from the transcripts for financial gain.” 

To enable the wiretapping, American Eagle covertly embeds code into its chat feature that automatically records and creates transcripts of all such private conversations, the lawsuit alleges. To enable the eavesdropping, the lawsuit claims American Eagle allows third-party business Moxie to intercept the conversations in real time.

“Visitors would be shocked and appalled to know that Defendant secretly records those conversations and allows a third party to eavesdrop on them in real time under the guise of ‘data analytics,’” the American Eagle class action states.

Licea looks to represent anyone in California who communicated with the company via the chat feature and experienced eavesdropping. He seeks certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial. 

Earlier this month, Pet Supplies Plus was hit with a similar class action lawsuit alleging it commits “insidious privacy intrusions” through the use of secret surveillance software on its website.

Additionally, certain churches around the United States reportedly use anti-porn applications such as Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You to keep tabs on the online activities of their congregants. 

Have you used the American Eagle Outfitters website? Let us know your thoughts on these claims in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Scott J. Ferrell of Pacific Trial Attorneys.

The American Eagle class action lawsuit is Miguel Licea v. American Eagle Outfitters Inc et al., Case No. 5:22-cv-01702, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. 

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