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An Ohio woman says that Classmates.com misappropriated her yearbook picture for online advertising without asking, and she’s not the only one.
Yesterday, lead plaintiff, Barbara Knapke, filed a class action lawsuit in Washington federal court against Seattle-based PeopleConnect Inc., the owner of Classmates.com. She’s hoping to represent other residents of Ohio who say that their yearbook photos were also misappropriated by PeopleConnect for advertising on Classmates.com.
“Classmates’ business model relies on extracting personal information from school yearbooks, including names, photographs, schools attended, and other biographical information,” explains Knapke in her class action lawsuit. “Classmates aggregates the extracted information into digital records that identify specific individuals by name, photograph, and other personal information, and stores those digital records in a massive online database.”
Classmates.com allegedly allows all of its users to access certain images for free. Premium service users get access to even more images. Knapke claims that, despite having never signed up for the service or accessing it in any way, her yearbook photo was used on Classmates.com, along with her full name, as a free preview on the website. She says she never gave the website permission to use her photo for ads and neither did the other people featured on the site.
“It would be simple for Classmates to maintain their business model while still complying with state law,” asserts Knapke in her class action lawsuit. “For example, Classmates could sell Plaintiff’s information on an individual basis without using her identity to advertise its subscription service.”
The class action lawsuit alleges that PeopleConnect is in violation of state laws protecting the use of an individual’s image for commercial purposes. The plaintiff seeks to represent other Ohio residents whose pictures have been misappropriated on Classmates.com for marketing purposes.
This is not the first class action lawsuit to take aim at the company over its compilation and use of yearbook images. A few months ago, a pair of California residents accused PeopleConnect of compiling hundreds of thousands of digital yearbooks and putting the information on the Classmates.com without permission in a class action lawsuit alleging violations of consumers’ privacy rights.
Were your pictures or images misappropriated by Classmates.com? Do you use the website? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!
The lead plaintiff, Barbara Knapke, and proposed Class Members are represented by Wright A. Noel of Carson Noel PLLC and Philip L. Fraietta of Bursor & Fisher PA.
The Classmates.com Misappropriated Pictures Class Action Lawsuit is Knapke v. PeopleConnect, Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-00262, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
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169 thoughts onClassmates.com Uses Yearbook Pictures For Ads Without Permission, Lawsuit Says
Please add me.
I used to use Classmates before they seemed so scammy. Are they still using my information? I don’t know, but if so I would like to be included in the class action. I don’t trust Classmates anymore than Facebook (ie: not at all!)
Turns out that you have to opt out of your connection to Facebook with them.
I did not know but was horrified at one of the the post picture I made on Facebook that they put in my photo profile. Never again. I am no longer a member !
Classmates.com took my Facebook pictures and posted them without my permission under my profile. I was horrified. I removed the one picture and disconnected my registration.
Turns out you have to opt out of your Facebook connection or they can do this. Yuck !!
I use Classmates.com to occasionally look up old classmates.
Not sure if they used any of my photos. Please include me on this lawsuit. Thank you.
Please add me,
I use Classmates.com to occasionally look up old classmates and refrained from using it when they started charging a fee.
Whether or not they used any of my photos, I don’t know.
But please include me on this lawsuit. Thank you.
Please add me
Add me please
Please add me.