Bass Pro Shops Illegally ‘Wiretaps’ Website Users, Class Action Alleges
Swaim V. Bps Direct, Llc
Filed: October 5, 2022 ◆§ 9:22-cv-81540-DMM
A proposed class claims that Bass Pro Shops has secretly “wiretapped” the online communications of visitors to BassPro.com.
A proposed class claims that Bass Pro Shops has secretly “wiretapped” the online communications of visitors to BassPro.com.
The 37-page lawsuit alleges the outdoor recreation gear retailer has violated the Florida Security of Communications Act (FSCA) by failing to obtain consent before tracking consumers’ interactions with its website.
According to the case, Bass Pro Shops has utilized “session replay code” from third-party providers like Microsoft to record consumers’ mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, pages and content viewed, and other electronic communications. The filing argues that the code is the “electronic equivalent of ‘looking over the shoulder’ of each visitor,” as the retailer can watch a consumer’s entire interaction with its website in real time.
Per the complaint, the session replay code can be used for “legitimate purposes” as a commonplace analytics tool, but Bass Pro Shops’ use of the software “goes well beyond normal website analytics when it comes to collecting the actual contents of communications between website visitors and websites.” According to the suit, Bass Pro Shops’ use of session replay software allows it to create “a detailed profile” of each website visitor, “to which Plaintiff and Class members did not consent.”
“Because most Session Replay Codes will by default indiscriminately capture the maximum range of user-initiated events and content displayed by the website, researchers have found that a variety of highly sensitive information can be watched in real-time and captured in event responses from website visitors, including medical conditions, credit card details, and other personal information displayed or entered on webpages.”
The complaint alleges Bass Pro Shops collects users’ digital data to improve its website design and marketing strategies.
The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in Florida whose website communications were watched and captured without their consent through the use of session replay code embedded in BassPro.com.
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