HBO Accused of Sharing Subscriber Data With Facebook In Class Action Lawsuit (variety.com) 14
HBO was hit with a class action lawsuit on Tuesday alleging that it shares subscribers' viewing history with Facebook, in violation of a federal privacy law. Variety reports: A class action law firm, Bursor & Fisher, filed the suit in federal court in New York on behalf of two HBO Max subscribers, Angel McDaniel and Constance Simon. The suit alleges that HBO provides Facebook with customer lists, which allows Facebook to match customers' viewing habits with their Facebook profiles. The suit alleges that HBO never receives consent from subscribers to do this, thereby violating the Video Privacy Protection Act. The act was passed in 1988, after a reporter obtained Robert Bork's rental history from a video store.
The lawsuit argues that HBO knows that Facebook can combine such data because HBO is a major advertiser on Facebook, and it in fact uses that information to retarget Facebook ads to its own subscribers. HBO Max has a privacy policy on its website, in which it discloses that it and its partners use cookies to deliver personalized ads, among other purposes. But the VPPA requires that subscribers give separate consent to share their video viewing history. "In other words," the lawsuit states, "a standard privacy policy will not suffice."
The lawsuit argues that HBO knows that Facebook can combine such data because HBO is a major advertiser on Facebook, and it in fact uses that information to retarget Facebook ads to its own subscribers. HBO Max has a privacy policy on its website, in which it discloses that it and its partners use cookies to deliver personalized ads, among other purposes. But the VPPA requires that subscribers give separate consent to share their video viewing history. "In other words," the lawsuit states, "a standard privacy policy will not suffice."
Sounds like a solid suit (Score:3)
Sounds like a decent law suit. HBO should have paid better to the law.
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Can't wait to get my $3 voucher...
You know those legal things that are so pathetically longstanding even a judge's 9-year old kid would ask, "Is this a fucking joke?"
Yeah. That shit.
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Nothing preventing you from rejecting the class action and suing yourself. Something tells me you don't have the money to front that operation. It is something I am considering..
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Nothing preventing you from rejecting the class action and suing yourself. Something tells me you don't have the money to front that operation...
Something tells me you've provided yet another corrupt example of our legal system; the chances of the average citizen affording justice.
And yeah, that's why we call it a legal system now. It hardly delivers justice anymore.
So damned annoying. (Score:2)
My brother died recently, and I'm working on becoming executor of his estate. So I looked up the price of his condo on Zillow earlier this week.
I don't live there, I live across town in our parents old house with my sister and brother in law.
Today my brother in law got a text out of the blue asking if he wanted to sell the condo at my brother address to the 'we buy houses' company.
My assumption is that since we share an IP address, they linked that to some profile with with his phone number to target market
Whoops! (Score:1)
Just slap them on the wrist. They didn't MEAN to get caught. :)
The wealthy don't need to play video games because they would rather waste real world resources.
It is time to explore space further! There is more wealth to be stolen from the aliens....
Launch that shuttle!
It doesn't even apply. (Score:1)
Or at least, shouldn't HBO isn't a video tape service provider, and trying to stretch the definition because we want it to fit is silly and an abuse of the law. By pretending it applies to streaming providers, you could argue it applies to fucking anyone serving up any kind of audio-visual content on the Internet. Better make sure your rinky dink little website doesn't leak any logs, you could get sued.
If you want such privacy laws, pass them and make them apply to internet streamers.
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It applies, as the law states:
(a)Definitions.—For purposes of this section—
[...]
(4)the term “video tape service provider” means any person, engaged in the business, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, of rental, sale, or delivery of prerecorded video cassette tapes ****or similar audio visual materials,**** or any person or other entity to whom a disclosure is made under subparagraph (D) or (E) of subsection (b)(2), but only with respect to the information contained in th
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It applies, as the law states:
(a)Definitions.—For purposes of this section—
[...]
(4)the term “video tape service provider” means any person, engaged in the business, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, of rental, sale, or delivery of prerecorded video cassette tapes ****or similar audio visual materials,**** or any person or other entity to whom a disclosure is made under subparagraph (D) or (E) of subsection (b)(2), but only with respect to the information contained in the disclosure.
Streaming drove the video rental stores out of business; obviously they are providing a similar service.
It’s clear that it applies to “audio visual materials” such as laser discs, DVDs, blu-rays, and the like, and I’d even agree that it should apply to streaming, but I’m not convinced from your quote that it actually does, given that no “materials” are involved.
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Why should the question of medium affect the privacy rules? Information on what someone streamed seems pretty much equivalent to information on what videotapes they rented.
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Why should the question of medium affect the privacy rules?
It shouldn't, hence why I said...
I'd even agree that it should apply to streaming
...but experience has taught me to be skeptical that the law will be interpreted in the ways that clearly make the most sense. Oftentimes what matters is what's actually in writing, and what's in writing here is seemingly specific to physical media, hence my concern. I'd love it if you and me and everyone else in this thread got their wish, but it isn't a bet I'd take.
Waaaaaah (Score:1)