M.A.C. Cosmetics Records, Shares Website Visitors’ Communications Without Consent, Lawsuit Alleges

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M.A.C. Cosmetics Inc. has surreptitiously monitored and recorded website visitors’ electronic communications, a proposed class action lawsuit claims.

The eight-page lawsuit alleges M.A.C. has “secretly deployed” keystroke monitoring software on maccosmetics.com that is capable of recording visitors’ keystrokes, mouse clicks, data entry and other interactions with the website. Per the suit, the defendant has never disclosed its “wiretapping” activities to website visitors, or sought their consent.

“Defendant’s actions are the equivalent of a vile digital trifecta: looking over its consumers’ shoulders, eavesdropping on consumers’ conversations, and reading consumers’ journals,” the complaint scathes.

The plaintiff is a California consumer who says she visited M.A.C.’s website within the past year and communicated with someone she thought was a customer service representative. Per the case, M.A.C. uses a “chatbot” program that “convincingly impersonates an actual human that encourages consumers to share their personal information.”

The suit alleges that M.A.C. records and stores website visitors’ conversations with the chatbot software and “routinely shares” the information with the third-party companies who provide the technology used on its site.

According to the case, M.A.C. has violated California privacy law by intercepting, monitoring, recording and sharing residents’ electronic communications without their consent.

The suit looks to represent anyone in California who, within the past year, visited the defendant’s website and whose electronic communications were recorded or shared with third parties by M.A.C. without their prior express consent.

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