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Meta tax information class action overview:
- Who: Two anonymous plaintiffs have sued Facebook owner Meta.
- Why: The plaintiffs say online tax-filing services have been sending Meta sensitive financial information without customers’ knowledge.
- Where: The Meta tax information class action lawsuit was filed in a California federal court.
Major tax filing services have been quietly transmitting sensitive financial information to Facebook owner Meta when Americans file their taxes online, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Two anonymous plaintiffs filed the class action lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. on Dec. 1 in a California federal court, alleging violations of state and federal privacy laws.
Meta uses a “Meta Pixel” — a piece of code that logs users’ activities on third-party websites — and sends the details back to Meta, the plaintiffs say.
They allege that major online tax-filing services such as H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer embedded the Meta Pixel in their websites and sent tens of millions of filers’ tax-return data to Meta without their consent, in violation of federal law.
“The Pixel sent Meta the tax-filers’ names, email addresses, adjusted gross incomes, tax-filing statuses, refund amounts, dependents’ college scholarship amounts, and their dependents’ names — and perhaps more,” the plaintiffs say.
“It did so regardless of whether the filer had an account on Meta’s social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. And even when filers expressly declined to share their information, the Pixel collected it anyway.”
Meta breaks contract with Facebook users, lawsuit alleges
In its contract with Facebook users, Meta promised it “requires” businesses that use the Meta Pixel “to have lawful rights to collect, use, and share your data before providing any data to us,” the lawsuit states
However, the plaintiffs allege that Meta makes no effort to enforce that promise — relying on a “broken honor-system that has resulted in repeated, documented violations of Meta’s own contractual promises and state and federal law.”
The plaintiffs are suing for breach of contract, breach of state and federal privacy laws, violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and negligent misrepresentation.
They seek to represent all Facebook users who used tax-preparation service providers in the United States with web properties through which Meta acquired tax return information without consent.
They are asking for certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
In September, Meta was hit with another class action lawsuit alleging it intercepts, monitors and records users’ browsing activity and communications without their consent.
What do you think of the allegations against Meta in this case? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Patrick Yarborough of Foster Yarborough PLLC and Steven C. Vondran of The Law Offices of Steven C. Vondran.
The Meta tax information class action lawsuit is John Doe, et al. v. Meta Platforms Inc., Case No. 3:22-cv-07557, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco & Oakland Division.
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15 thoughts onMeta class action claims tax filing services transmit sensitive financial information to platform
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I had used them for a few years add me