CuriosityStream Lawsuit Alleges User Data Unlawfully Shared With Facebook
DuCote et al. v. CuriosityStream, Inc.
Filed: July 2, 2024 ◆§ 1:24-cv-01922
A class action alleges CuriosityStream has unlawfully disclosed consumers’ private data to Facebook without their knowledge or consent.
A proposed class action lawsuit alleges CuriosityStream has violated a federal privacy law by intentionally disclosing consumers’ private data to Facebook without their knowledge or consent.
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The 16-page privacy lawsuit asserts that the company has run afoul of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by failing to obtain user permission before capturing and transmitting to Facebook consumers’ personal data and video-viewing histories via tracking technology embedded into CuriosityStream.com.
The suit says the streaming platform, which hosts thousands of documentaries and educational videos on a wide range of topics, utilizes a web-tracking tool known as the Meta pixel to record and share consumers’ information with Facebook. According to the case, the tracker sends to the social media company details of every interaction a user has with the website, including search queries and the title, URL and description of any videos they view.
On top of sharing a consumer’s viewing records, the Meta pixel also transmits their Facebook ID, a unique string of numbers that can be used to locate their individual Facebook profile, the complaint adds.
“A Facebook ID allows anybody—not just Facebook—to identify the individual CuriosityStream consumer with a Facebook account,” the filing relays. “If one types www.facebook.com/[FacebookID] a into web browser, it will load that individual’s Facebook page.”
The video privacy lawsuit contends that by disclosing a user’s Facebook ID, the platform supplies enough data to identify the consumer and link them to their video-viewing preferences.
The suit says that “for many CuriosityStream consumers, what may have started out as movie night alone in the privacy of one’s own home, with the Meta tracking pixel, has become a surprisingly public affair.”
The CuriosityStream lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who has an account on both Facebook and CuriosityStream.com and viewed videos on the platform.
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