Sephora class action claims company eavesdrops on customer chats

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Sephora class action overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Arisha Byars filed a class action lawsuit against Sephora USA Inc.
• Why: Byars claims Sephora’s chat uses a third-party spyware company to monitor the chat and then sell information to other companies to send the class targeted marketing.
• Where: The Sephora class action was filed in federal court in California and applies to those in California.
• What are my options: Try Sand and Sky as an alternative to Sephora.

Sephora USA Inc. is facing a class action lawsuit brought by plaintiff Arisha Byars over the company’s use of a third-party spyware company to monitor live chat conversations on its website without proper warning.

The use of Live Chat software to monitor those conversations and then sell information to third-party companies for use in target marketing is a violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, according to the lawsuit. The CIPA prohibits wiretapping and eavesdropping of electronic communications without the consent of all parties to the communication.

“Unlike most companies, Defendant ignores CIPA,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, defendant enables and allows a third party that has no corporate affiliation with defendant to eavesdrop on all such conversations. Why? Because, as one industry expert notes, ‘Live chat transcripts are the gold mines of customer service. At your fingertips, you have valuable customer insight to make informed business decisions. … When people are chatting, you have direct access to their exact pain points.'”

The plaintiff used a smartphone to access the chat function on Sephora.com and provided personal and confidential data during the chat, according to the lawsuit. The defendant said Sephora did not indicate it was allowing the spyware company to eavesdrop on the conversation and also provide transcripts along with providing the data to Meta, according to the lawsuit.

Byars previously won a case against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in an identical case claiming Goodyear had violated CIPA by allowing for a third-party company to monitor a live chat, according to the lawsuit. She also filed similar lawsuits against Rite Aid, Hot Topic and Casper Sleep.

Class deserves injunctive relief along with damages, attorneys’ fees, according to class action lawsuit

The class should be granted injunctive relief and damages, along with attorneys’ fees, the Sephora class action lawsuit claims.

Sephora was previously reached a $1.77 million settlement to resolve claims it illegally charged taxes on Missouri purchases.

Have you received targeted email messages after using a company’s live chat function? Let us know in the comments.

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

The Sephora eavesdropping class action lawsuit is Byars, et al. v. Sephora USA Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-00883, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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