Twilio class action claims company collects in-app communications

Twilio data privacy class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Noah Bender filed a class action lawsuit against Twilio Inc. 
• Why: Bender claims Twilio eavesdrops on consumers’ sensitive in-app communications via a software development kit discretely embedded in mobile apps by developers. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court. 

Cloud communications Twilio eavesdrops on consumers’ sensitive in-app communications, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiff Noah Bender’s class action lawsuit claims Twilio collects “incredibly” sensitive data from “unsuspecting” consumers who had the company’s Segment software development kit (SDK) embedded in their mobile apps by developers. 

“Thousands of developers have embedded Twilio’s Segment SDK into their mobile apps allowing them to siphon data from millions of consumers,” the Twilio class action says. 

Bender wants to represent a nationwide class and California subclass of consumers who have had Twilio’s Segment SDK embedded into an app on their mobile phone that did not publicly disclose “Twilio” in any of the app’s notices or disclosures. 

Twilio collects data to compile ‘comprehensive digital dossier’ on consumers, class action claims 

Bender argues Twilio collects sensitive data such as consumers’ in-app search terms, search results, keystrokes, button presses, page views, and consumers’ names and email addresses.

The collected data reveals consumers’ likes, interests, and information about “other behavioral attributes,” the Twilio class action claims. 

“Armed with a wealth of data on the consumer, Twilio leverages its proprietary artificial intelligence to correlate data from various sources to compile a comprehensive digital dossier on each consumer,” the Twilio class action says. 

Bender claims Twilio is violating the Wiretap Act and California’s Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act and California Wiretap Act. 

The plaintiff demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of liquidated and punitive damages for himself and all class members. 

In other news involving Twilio, the company confirmed last month that it suffered a data breach.  The confirmation came after a hacker posted on a hacking forum in May that they had stolen 33 million phone numbers belonging to Twilio customers. 

Have you used an app discretely embedded with Twilio’s Segment SDK? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Rafey Balabanian, Jared Lucky and Schuyler Ufkes of Edelson PC. 

The Twilio data privacy class action lawsuit is Bender, et al. v. Twilio Inc., Case No. 3:24-cv-04914, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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