Class Action Lawsuit Alleges The New Yorker, Wired Secretly Collect Website Users’ IP Addresses

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges The New Yorker and Wired use tracking technology on their websites to collect visitors’ data without consent.

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According to the 28-page privacy lawsuit, defendant Condé Nast Digital has configured NewYorker.com and Wired.com so that at least three trackers are installed onto a user’s browser when they visit the sites. These trackers then cause the browser to send personal information, including the user’s IP address, to advertising tech companies Google, Audiencerate and Neustar, the case contends.

Per the filing, the third-party companies use the IP addresses to pinpoint the geographical location of NewYorker.com and Wired.com visitors and develop marketing strategies based on that information.

“[T]he trackers are designed to analyze website data and marketing campaigns, conduct targeted advertising, and boost [Condé Nast’s] revenue, all through their surreptitious collection of [the plaintiff’s] and class members’ data,” the class action lawsuit says.

The case further argues that the third-party tools are considered “pen registers,” which are devices or processes that record outgoing information.

“For example, if a user sends an email, a ‘pen register’ might record the email address it was sent from, the email address the email was sent to, and the subject line—because this is the user’s outgoing information,” the filing reads.

California’s Invasion of Privacy Act prohibits the use of a pen register without obtaining prior consent and a court order, neither of which Condé Nast obtained, the filing claims.

The Condé Nast lawsuit looks to represent any California residents who accessed the NewYorker.com and Wired.com in the state and had their IP address collected by the websites’ trackers.

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