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A class action lawsuit out of California alleges the company behind the World of Warcraft website is breaching privacy laws by using third-party tracking software.
Plaintiff Brian Sacco says Blizzard Inc. uses embedded JavaScript code provided by Mouseflow Inc. to track and record keystrokes, mouse clicks and other personal information on the World of Warcraft website without users’ consent.
He argues this practice amounts to illegal wiretapping and is prohibited by California’s Invasion of Privacy Act.
Sacco reports using the World of Warcraft website two to three times during April and March. Each time, Sacco claims that Mouseflow’s tracking software recorded real-time videos of what he was clicking on, what he was typing and the messages he was sending.
Sacco says these videos, also known as “session replays,” are housed on Mouseflow servers in Texas, where its clients can pull them up to view on demand at any time.
In the complaint, he points to promotional material used by Mouseflow to attract clients, specifically citing messaging in a brochure: “It shows a recording of the activity from each visitor on your site — just like CCTV.”
Mouseflow’s tracking software is being used by some 165,000 different clients, Sacco says in the class action lawsuit.
“In short, Mouseflow functions as a wiretap, and Mouseflow is a self-admitted eavesdropper who uses those wiretaps,” Sacco said.
California’s Invasion of Privacy Act is being invoked in at least four additional class action lawsuits.
Mouseflow is defending its practices in two of those class action lawsuits.
Plaintiff Mary Narvaez claims the tracking software is being used illegally by WebMD, and Carnival Cruise’s choice to use Mouseflow’s tracking code on its website has resulted in the same claims.
Lead plaintiff Daniel Onn alleges the code on Carnival’s recorded, without permission, everything he clicked on and typed while booking a cruise in August.
Another class action lawsuit has been filed in California’s Northern District against weight loss company Noom. The plaintiffs in that case allege Noom partners with FullStory Inc. to provide invasive and privacy-breaching videos of what customers do on the company’s website.
Noom website visitors were forced to accept the privacy violations in order to receive their weight-loss plan, according to plaintiffs Audra Graham and Stacy Moise.
The fourth class action lawsuit claims Cars.com illegally wiretaps visitors to the website with tracking code provided by Jornaya services. The plaintiffs allege Jornaya not only created tracking software for Cars.com but also evaded Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regulations by creating two separate software programs.
The plaintiffs are seeking at least $5,000 for each Class Member in that case.
California’s Invasion of Privacy Act initially centered around telephone calls, but has since expanded to include digital communications.
While the California class action lawsuits reflect a growing concern over the use of these “session replay” tracker videos, there remains to be any federal legislation regulating it.
A report from Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy says these session replays “may cause” sensitive data to be leaked, which “may expose users to identity theft, online scams, and other unwanted behavior.”
So far, according to CPO Magazine, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has enacted game-changing policy, and Washington is expected to follow suit.
Have you used the World of Warcraft website? Let us know in the comments below.
Counsel representing the plaintiffs in this class action lawsuit are L. Timothy Fisher, Joel D. Smith and Scott A. Bursor of Bursor & Fisher, P.A.
The World of Warcraft Website Class Action Lawsuit is Brian Sacco, et al. v. Blizzard Entertainment Inc., et al., Case No. 2:20-at-01155, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
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5 thoughts onWorld of Warcraft Maker Hit with Privacy Invasion Class Action Lawsuit
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Frequently played this game and visited web site. Please add me
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We previously lived in CA and have visited our son who continues to live there, frequently until Covid-19. Both my son and my husband are players of this video game: World or Warcraft and have played while in both CA and FL.