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Saucony, Journeys wiretapping overview:
- Who: A consumer privacy advocate has sued shoe retailers Saucony and Journeys.
- Why: The plaintiff says the companies illegally record the private conversations of consumers using the chat function on their websites.
- Where: The two wiretapping lawsuits were filed in a California federal court.
Saucony and Journeys have been hit with twin class action lawsuits alleging they illegally eavesdropped on chats with potential customers who visited the shoe retailers’ websites.
Plaintiff Jose Licea filed the near-identical lawsuits against Wolverine World Wide Inc—which runs the Saucony website—and Genesco Inc—which runs the Journeys website—Oct. 12 in a California federal court.
According to the lawsuits, the two shoe retailers secretly wiretap the private conversations of everyone who communicates through the chat features at www.saucony.com and www.journeys.com and allows a third party to eavesdrop on such communications in real time.
The practice violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), Licea alleges.
Journeys, Saucony embedded code to record conversations with customers, lawsuit alleges
The retailers embedded code into their respective chat features that records and transcribes all conversations with consumers, and then allowed third-party vendors to listen in and keep transcripts of the chats without permission, Licea alleges.
“Visitors would be shocked and appalled to know that Defendant secretly records those conversations, and would be even more troubled to learn that Defendant allows a third party to eavesdrop on the conversations in real time under the guise of ‘data analytics,'” both lawsuits state.
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 class actions state.
“Instead, Defendant both wiretaps the conversations of all website visitors and allows a third party to eavesdrop on the conversations,” the lawsuits claim.
Licea is looking to represent two classes; one of California consumers who had their chat on Journeys’ website recorded, and the other made up of California consumers who used Saucony’s chat website.
The class actions are seeking certification, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.
Meanwhile, retailers Hot Topic, Meta Platforms, Michaels, Pet Supplies Plus, Microsoft, GameStop, Zillow, Lowes and Expedia all face similar recent claims that they track their website visitors’ browser activity.
Have you used the Saucony or Journeys website chat features? Let us know your thoughts on these lawsuits in the comments!
Licea is represented by Scott Ferrell of Pacific Trial Attorneys.
The Saucony, Journeys wiretapping class action lawsuits are Licea v. Wolverine World Wide, Inc. et al. and Licea v. Genesco, Inc. et al., Case Nos. 3:22-cv-1564 and 3:22-cv-1567, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
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