HBO is going through a category motion lawsuit over allegations that it gave subscribers’ viewing historical past to Facebook with out correct permission, Variety has reported. The swimsuit accuses HBO of offering Facebook with buyer lists, permitting the social community to match viewing habits with their profiles.
It additional alleges that HBO is aware of Facebook can mix the info as a result of HBO is a significant Facebook advertiser — and Facebook can then use that info to retarget adverts to its subscribers. Since HBO by no means obtained correct buyer consent to do that, it allegedly violated the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), based on the lawsuit.
HBO, like different websites, discloses to customers that it (and companions) use cookies to ship personalised adverts. However, the VPPA requires separate consent from customers to share their video viewing historical past. “A normal privateness coverage won’t suffice,” based on the swimsuit.
Other streaming suppliers have been hit with comparable claims, and TikTok lately agreed to pay a $92 million settlement for (partially) violating the VPPA. In one other case, nevertheless, a choose dominated in 2015 that Hulu did not knowingly share knowledge with Facebook that would set up a person’s viewing historical past. The regulation agency concerned within the HBO swimsuit beforehand gained a $50 million settlement with Hearst after alleging that it violated Michigan privateness legal guidelines by promoting subscriber knowledge.