Class Action Claims USA Today Owner Secretly Discloses Subscribers’ Personal Information to Facebook

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USA Today publisher Gannett Company, Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action that claims the company has unlawfully disclosed certain personal information about its subscribers to Facebook without the individuals’ consent.

The 22-page lawsuit more specifically claims that Gannett has used cookies, software development kits and tracking pixels on usatoday.com and the publication’s app to collect data about its subscribers and pass it on to Facebook. Among the information allegedly disclosed to the social media giant are the titles and URLs of the videos watched by subscribers and their Facebook IDs, the case contends.

Per the suit, a user’s Facebook ID allows Facebook to “quickly and easily locate, access, and view a particular digital subscriber’s corresponding Facebook profile.” By combining a subscriber’s Facebook ID and video content into one data point, Gannett passes on a trove of useful information to the social media platform, the case says.

“Put simply,” the complaint reads, “the pixel allows Facebook to know what Video Media one of its subscribers viewed on the USA Today site.”

Importantly, the suit says, USA Today’s terms of service and privacy policy fail to mention Gannett’s alleged practice of sharing subscribers’ data with its third-party business partners.

According to the case, Gannett has violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by disclosing digital subscribers’ identities and video media content information without proper consent.

The suit explains that Facebook’s pixel, which is used in combination with cookies, and software development kit are invisible tools that are incorporated into an advertiser’s website, such as Gannett’s usatoday.com, and collect certain specified information about users’ activities.

“When a USA Today user enters the website, subscribes and watches Video Media on the website, the website sends to Facebook certain information about the viewer and what the viewer watched,” the complaint explains. “Specifically, USA Today sends to Facebook the video content name, its URL, and, most notably, the viewers’ Facebook ID.”

Per the case, a user’s Facebook ID allows the social media platform, or “any other ordinary person,” for that matter, to look up a USA Today subscriber’s Facebook profile and name. By collecting this information, Gannett is able to show targeted advertising to its subscribers on Facebook based on the videos and other content they view on the USA Today website or app, the suit relays.

Facebook, for its part, can use the information to “build from scratch” or add to the data it already maintains about its users, the complaint adds.

Per the case, Gannett has effectively monetized its subscribers’ data by sharing it with Facebook—all without users’ knowledge or consent.

“Thus, without telling its digital subscribers, Defendant profits handsomely from its unauthorized disclosure of its digital subscribers’ Personal Viewing Information,” the lawsuit contends. “It does so at the expense of its digital subscribers’ privacy and their statutory rights under the VPPA.”

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in the U.S. with a digital subscription to an online website owned or operated by Gannett who had their personal viewing information disclosed to Facebook by the defendant.

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