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Philadelphia Inquirer class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Jason Braun and Jim Cummings filed a class action lawsuit against Philadelphia Inquirer LLC.
- Why: Braun and Cummings claim the Philadelphia Inquirer is unlawfully sharing the personal viewing information of its digital subscribers with Facebook.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
The Philadelphia Inquirer knowingly and unlawfully discloses the personal viewing information of its digital subscribers to Facebook without first obtaining express consent to do so, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiffs Jason Braun and Jim Cummings claim the Philadelphia Inquirer shares with Facebook its digital subscribers’ Facebook IDs and a record of all their video-viewing activity done on its website.
Braun and Cummings argue the Philadelphia Inquirer is violating the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and is profiting “at the expense of its digital subscribers’ privacy and their statutory rights under the VPPA.”
“Defendant chose to disregard Plaintiffs’ and hundreds of thousands of other digital subscribers’ statutorily protected privacy rights by releasing their sensitive data to Facebook,” states the Philadelphia Inquirer class action.
Braun and Cummings want to represent a nationwide class of consumers who have a digital subscription to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s website and who had their personal viewing information shared with Facebook.
Philadelphia Inquirer accused of using Facebook Pixel to share digital subscribers’ viewing information
The Philadelphia Inquirer shares the personal viewing information of its digital subscribers with Facebook through the use of what is known as the Facebook Pixel, which allows it to track and share data with the social networking company, the Philadelphia Inquirer class action alleges.
“Defendant knowingly installed the Facebook Pixel tool onto inquirer.com and controlled which types of information and data would be tracked and transmitted to Facebook,” states the Philadelphia Inquirer class action.
In addition to allegedly violating the VPPA, Braun and Cummings claim the Philadelphia Inquirer is guilty of unjust enrichment. They are demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory relief along with an award of punitive damages for themselves and all class members.
The class action lawsuit is only the latest in a string of similar complaints recently filed against companies accused of unlawfully sharing the personal information of their digital subscribers or customers with Facebook, including BuzzFeed, Sony, and GameStop, among others.
Have you had your personal information shared with Facebook without your consent? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Arthur Stock, Gary M. Klinger, Alexandra M. Honeycutt, and Nick Suciu III of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC, and Joshua D. Arisohn, Philip L. Fraietta, and Christopher R. Reilly of Bursor & Fisher, P.A., and Adam E. Polk, Simon Grille, and Kimberly Macey of Girard Sharp LLP.
The Philadelphia Inquirer class action lawsuit is Braun, et al. v. Philadelphia Inquirer LLC, Case No. 2:22-cv-04185, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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