Hearst Shared Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmo, Esquire, Redbook Readers’ Identities Without Consent, Class Action Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

The publisher of Country Living, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and other widely circulated magazines has shared subscribers’ identities with third parties despite lacking consent to do so, a proposed class action claims.

The eight-page lawsuit alleges New York-headquartered Hearst Communications, who also publishes Good Housekeeping; Redbook; Seventeen; and O, the Magazine, among other titles, has run afoul of the Alabama Right of Publicity Act by renting, exchanging and disclosing to data brokerage clients subscribers’ full names, titles they subscribe to, home addresses and myriad other varieties of individualized information, such as gender, ethnicity and religion.

Per the case, Hearst shares subscriber specifics with data miners, aggregators, appenders, cooperatives, list rental customers and/or list brokers, among others, and can “misappropriate” and profit from the disclosures time and time again given the information is rented and exchanged, rather than sold. In exchange for subscriber information, Hearst’s data brokerage clients allegedly provide the publisher with supplemental details collected separately about each individual.

The case also argues Hearst’s dissemination of subscriber information from its vast digital database is dangerous given it might provide a bad actor the tools needed to target particular members of society. 

According to the complaint, the Alabama Right of Publicity Act states that “any person or entity who uses or causes the use of the indica [sic] of identity of a person, on or in products, goods, merchandise, or services entered into commerce in this state, or for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, goods, merchandise or services . . . without consent shall be liable under this article to that person, or to a holder of that person’s rights.” 

The suit contends that the sale of names and subscriber information “clearly constitutes using a person’s name on and/or in connection with a product, good, merchandise, or service.” The plaintiff, a Mobile resident, is not challenging Hearst’s core business as a magazine publisher, as the company, the case says, “could easily maintain its business model while still complying with Alabama state law.” 

The lawsuit asserts that Hearst does not seek its customers’ prior consent, written or otherwise, before disclosing their information, and subscribers remain unaware that their identities are being rented and exchanged on the open market. 

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.