TikTok class action alleges company records data outside app use

TikTok data recording class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Carina Fleming filed a class action lawsuit against TikTok Inc. and ByteDance Inc. 
• Why: Fleming claims TikTok and its owner ByteDance unlawfully track the external activities of users through its in-app browser. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in New Jersey federal court. 

Video hosting service TikTok and its owner ByteDance invade users’ privacy by secretly intercepting data such as the details and contents of their activity outside of the platform, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Carina Fleming claims TikTok and ByteDance never disclose to or get consent from TikTok users to record their data in the event users’ click a link inside the application to access an external website. 

Fleming argues TikTok also secretly tracks the activity of users who click a link inside the application to make a purchase, register to vote, or “seek any information that is external to the application itself.” 

“Through its in-app browser, TikTok has secretly amassed massive amounts of highly invasive information about its users by tracking their activities on third-party websites,” the TikTok class action states. 

The plaintiff wants to represent a nationwide class and New Jersey subclass of individuals who used the TikTok app’s in-app browser to visit websites external to the app. 

TikTok accused of selling intercepted information to ‘generate massive revenues’ 

TikTok and ByteDance have used the “unlawfully intercepted private and personally identifiable data and content” taken from “unwitting” TikTok users to “generate massive revenues by selling and providing access to this data,” the TikTok class action alleges. 

“Through their clandestine tracking activities, Defendants have violated wiretap laws, unlawfully intruded upon users’ privacy, violated their rights of privacy, and unjustly profited from the unlawful activities,” the TikTok class action alleges. 

Fleming claims TikTok and ByteDance are guilty of unjust enrichment and in violation of common law invasion of privacy, the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and the Federal Wiretap Act. 

Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory and injunctive relief along with an award of compensatory, punitive, exemplary, and statutory damages for herself and all class members. 

 In August, a federal judge in Illinois gave the final OK to a $92 million settlement agreed to by TikTok to resolve claims the company misused the biometric information of its users.

Have you had your browsing activity recorded without your knowledge or consent? Let us know in the comments. 

The plaintiff is represented by James E. Cecchi of Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Brody & Agnello PC. 

The TikTok data recording class action lawsuit is Fleming, et al. v. TikTok Inc., et al., Case No. 2:22-cv-07370, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. 

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