Essence Magazine Publisher Unlawfully Disclosed Subscriber Information, Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action claims magazine publisher Essence Communications, Inc. has unlawfully disclosed mailing lists containing private subscriber information without first obtaining written consent to do so.

The 27-page lawsuit alleges the publisher of Essence magazine has violated a Michigan privacy law by disclosing its readers’ information—including their full names and addresses, titles of the publications they subscribe to and myriad demographic details—to aggregators and other third parties who in turn hand over the data to “aggressive advertisers, political organizations, and non-profit companies.”

Per the complaint, the decision by Essence to rent, exchange and/or otherwise disclose the information, rather than sell it, allows the defendant to “disclose the information time and time again to countless third parties,” and thereby “profit[] handsomely” at the expense of subscribers’ privacy.

The magazine publisher’s subscribers, as a result, have been subjected to “a barrage of unwanted junk mail,” the case contests, alleging that the defendant’s conduct is particularly dangerous to “the more vulnerable members of society” who may be more susceptible to scammers and other nefarious actors.

According to the case, Essence discloses customer data to data aggregators and appenders who, in turn, supplement it with additional private information from their own databases. Essence then rents or exchanges mailing lists containing this data to other data aggregators, consumer-facing businesses, non-profits and political organizations, the suit relays.

Per the complaint, the private information of the magazine’s more than 463,000 active U.S. subscribers is available on list broker NextMark, Inc.’s website at a base price of $115.00 per thousand. The defendant has nevertheless failed to obtain subscribers’ written consent before disclosing, renting or otherwise exchanging their data, the suit contests.

The lawsuit claims Essence’s conduct has essentially exposed its customers’ private information—including reading habits and preferences that can, according to the case, “reveal intimate facts about [their] lives”—to “anybody willing to pay for it.”

The case alleges violations of the Michigan Preservation of Personal Privacy Act, and looks to represent Michigan residents who, at any time before July 30, 2016, had their private reading information disclosed to third parties by Essence without their consent.

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