A class action lawsuit has been filed in Florida alleging that iHeartMedia is violating the federal Video Privacy Protection Act by sharing its digital subscribers’ Facebook ID and “computer file containing video and its corresponding URL viewed” by them to Facebook and their parent Meta. The VPPA prohibits “video tape service providers” from sharing data on video-viewing habits without express consent. In this case, filed in the Middle District of Florida by Gloria Talley, the suit states that the details of content viewed and the subscriber’s Facebook ID on iHeart.com are transferred by to Facebook via its tracking pixel. Similar lawsuits have been filed in the past few months against AARP, People Magazine, NBCUniversal, and Hubbard Radio’s WTOP.com.
ClassAction.org states that the suit looks to represent anyone in the United States with a digital subscription to an online website or app owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. whose personal viewing information was transmitted to Facebook.
In the suit against WTOP filed last fall, similar allegations were filed by Toni Duplantis or Louisiana seeking $2500 in damages for each member of the suite, plus punitive damages to be determined in the trial along with prejudgment interest and legal costs. Hubbard filed this week for the suit to be thrown out as neither the plaintiff nor company are at home in Maryland where the suit was filed. Hubbard also argued against the broad interpretation of the VPAA that this and the other suits are taking as its use of video materials to supplement their news content does not make it the equivalent of an online video store. “To hold otherwise would mean that every website with video content is in the business of renting video tapes and can be sued under VPPA.”
The full complaint against iHeart can be read here.
