“Upon information and belief, [Paramount Global] also transmits its subscribers’ Personal Viewing Information to Facebook, TikTok and additional unauthorized third parties—including Google and Twitter—through other tracking technologies installed on its Website and apps,” the lawsuit alleges.
A prospective class-action lawsuit accuses Paramount Global of violating federal privacy law by tracking consumers’ viewing history.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the complaint was filed on Friday in a California-based federal court. In the lawsuit, attorneys allege that Paramount regularly shares viewers’ personally-identifiable information, including records of every movie they’ve ever watched, with companies like Meta and TikTok. This information is used to serve targeted advertisements.
Although many other companies engage in similar practices, the lawsuit suggests that Paramount Global—along with other streaming services—has additional obligations under the federal Video Privacy Protection Act.
The Video Privacy Protection Act, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, generally prohibits media companies from sharing information about subscribers’ viewing habits. The Reporter notes that, in the past 10 years, Netflix, Disney, and Warner Bros. have all faced similar claims of misusing viewing user viewing histories.
“In 2012, Congress amended the VPAA, and in doing so, reiterated the Act’s applicability to “so-called ‘on-demand’ cable services and Internet streaming services [that] allow consumers to watch movies or TV shows on televisions, laptop computers, and cell phones,” the lawsuit states.
Attorneys claim that these practices are pervasive—and are, at no point, detailed by Paramount’s terms of use.
“Upon information and belief, [Paramount Global] also transmits its subscribers’ Personal Viewing Information to Facebook, TikTok and additional unauthorized third parties—including Google and Twitter—through other tracking technologies installed on its Website and apps,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Defendant was aware that the disclosures to third parties that it shared through the tracking software that it incorporated in its Website and apps identified Plaintiff and the Class Members,” attorneys wrote. “Indeed, both Facebook and TikTok publicly tout their abilities to connect [Personally Identifiable Information] to individual user profiles. Defendant also knew that Plaintiff’s and the Class Members’ Personal Viewing Information was disclosed to third parties because Defendant programmed the tracking software into the Website’s and apps’ code so that third parties would receive the video titles and subscribers’ unique third-party identifiers when a subscriber requested and/or viewed a prerecorded video on the Website or apps.”
“At no point did Plaintiff or the Class Members consent to Defendant’s disclosure of their video viewing history to third parties,” it adds. “As such, Defendant deprived Plaintiff and the Class Members of their privacy rights and control over their personal information.”
The lawsuit, which has yet to be certified as a class action, seeks compensation as well as statutory damages of $2,500 for each alleged violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act.
Sources
Paramount Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Sharing Subscriber Viewing History
Join the conversation!