Bed, Bath and Beyond class action alleges retailer uses ‘session replay’ software to record visitor activity

Bed, Bath and Beyond class action overview: 

• Who: A Bed, Bath & Beyond consumer sued the company.
• Why: The plaintiff says the company illegally recorded consumers’ visits to its website without their consent and in violation of the law. 
• Where: The Bed, Bath and Beyond class action was filed in a Pennsylvania federal court.

Bed, Bath & Beyond unlawfully intercepted consumers’ online communications through the use of “session replay” spyware that allowed it to watch and record visitors to its website, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Janice Munday filed the class action lawsuit against Bed, Bath & Beyond Inc Nov. 15 in a Pennsylvania federal court, alleging violations of the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act (WESCA).

According to the Bed, Bath & Beyond class action, the retailer installed session replay spyware, namely Quantum Metric, to intercept its website visitors’ electronic computer-to-computer data communications on www.bedbathandbeyond.com. 

This allegedly included interactions with the website, like their mouse movements and clicks, keystrokes, search terms, information inputted and pages and content viewed.

“Defendant intercepted the electronic communications at issue without the knowledge or prior consent of Plaintiff or the Class members,” the Bed, Bath & Beyond class action says. “Defendant did so for its own financial gain and in violation of Plaintiff’s and the Class members’ substantive legal privacy rights under the WESCA.”

Bed Bath & Beyond class action claims retailer ‘looked over consumers’ shoulders’

Unlike typical website analytics services that provide aggregate statistics, the session replay technology is intended to record and playback individual browsing sessions, as if someone is looking over a consumers’ shoulder when visiting the Bed, Bath & Beyond website, the lawsuit alleges.

The software is then used to increase profits. It computes billions of touch and mouse movements and transforms this knowledge into profitable actions that increase engagement, reduce operational costs and maximize conversion rates, the Bed, Bath & Beyond lawsuit states.

Munday looks to represent a class of Pennsylvania residents whose electronic communications were intercepted by Bed, Bath & Beyond without their consent.

She is seeking certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial. 

In related Bed, Bath & Beyond news, in October, the retailer revealed that it suffered a data breach after the company says one of its employees fell victim to a phishing scam. 

Have you visited the Bed, Bath & Beyond website? Let us know what you think of the allegations in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Ari H. Marcus of Marcus Zelman LLC.

The Bed, Bath & Beyond class action lawsuit is Janice Munday v. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc, Case No. 2:22-cv-04567-HB, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

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