Class Action Lawsuit Claims Adobe Secretly Intercepts, Monetizes Consumer Data via Online Tracking Tech

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A proposed class action lawsuit accuses Adobe Inc. of harvesting and monetizing the private data of millions of consumers without their knowledge or consent.

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The 32-page lawsuit centers around Adobe’s Experience Cloud Identity Service and Experience Platform Identity Service, which, according to the case, are tools website operators and app developers use to track and aggregate consumer data across the internet, regardless of a user’s browser, device or privacy settings.

Per the suit, Adobe assigns a unique, cross-platform identifier known as an Experience Cloud ID (ECID) to each consumer who visits a website using its services. The ECID cookie and other similar tracking technology have enabled Adobe to collect data about users’ activity and private communications across third-party apps, websites and other services for targeted advertising purposes, the complaint alleges.

While Adobe’s cookies allow it to track the same user across the web, its Experience Platform Identity Service enables the defendant to build an “identity graph” for each consumer, the filing explains. The Adobe lawsuit says that this service matches a user’s ECID with additional personally identifiable information, linking all the collected data together into the user’s “identity graph.”

The suit contends that these services, which Adobe clients can use for analytics and marketing purposes, come at the expense of consumers’ privacy rights.

“Adobe’s role as a centralized identity broker allows it to develop complete profiles of individuals and recognize them across websites and devices—exactly what privacy-preserving mechanisms are meant to prevent,” the case argues.

The complaint claims Adobe intentionally created its unique identifier, the ECID, to follow consumers across the web despite knowing this type of tool is “at odds with users’ expectation of privacy.”

According to the filing, consumers are unaware that Adobe intercepts and tracks their identifiers and private communications, not least because the defendant is silent regarding the extent of its data collection practices and even what entities use its services.

“Adobe’s conduct is particularly offensive in light of the secretive nature in which it takes place,” the class action suit charges. “[The plaintiff] and Class Members had no way of knowing Adobe collected their unique identifiers and other personal data and other online communications, and Adobe did so from thousands of websites, if not more.”

The lawsuit looks to represent all United States residents from whom Adobe intercepted or stored an ECID, demdex.net cookie or other identifying information, or for whom the company created an identity graph.

The suit also seeks to cover those in the United States who had their communications with third parties intercepted or used by Adobe without their consent.

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