PBS Shared Subscriber Info with Facebook Without Consent, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has violated a federal privacy law by sharing website subscribers’ identities and video viewing habits with Facebook without consent to do so.

According to the 26-page case, PBS has failed to obtain authorization from PBS.com subscribers before disclosing to Facebook certain information about their identities and the video content they’ve viewed on the website.

The lawsuit alleges PBS’s data sharing practices violate the Video Privacy Protection Act, a federal law that prohibits a “video tape service provider” such as PBS from disclosing a consumer’s personally identifiable information—including video content they’ve requested or obtained from the provider—without the individual’s express consent.

“Defendant chose to disregard Plaintiff’s and hundreds of thousands of other Pbs.com digital subscribers’ statutorily protected privacy rights by releasing their sensitive data to Facebook,” the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit claims that PBS surreptitiously collects and shares subscriber data through the use of cookies, software development kits and pixels installed on PBS.com. Per the case, the Facebook pixel is a piece of code that tracks when a digital subscriber enters the PBS website or app and what videos they view. A subscriber’s personal viewing information and their Facebook ID are then shared as one data point with the social media giant, who can then use the information to “quickly and easily locate, access, and view digital subscribers’ corresponding Facebook profile,” the filing states.

“Put simply,” the complaint says, “the pixel allows Facebook to know what Video Media one of its subscribers viewed on the Pbs.com site.”

According to the suit, Facebook uses the information collected through pixels and software development kits to improve its ability to target ads to users. The case says PBS benefits financially from this arrangement due to the advertising and information services that “stem from use of the pixel.”

Importantly, the lawsuit explains that a subscriber’s Facebook ID (FID) is a unique identifier that allows “any ordinary person,” not just Facebook, to find their corresponding Facebook profile.

“Simply put, with only an FID and the video content name and URL—all of which Defendant knowingly and readily provides to Facebook without any consent from the digital subscribers—any ordinary person could learn the identity of the digital subscriber and the specific video or media content they requested on Pbs.com’s website,” the complaint alleges.

Per the case, PBS has essentially monetized its subscribers’ data at the expense of their privacy rights and without the express consent required under the Video Privacy Protection Act.

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in the U.S. with a digital subscription to an online website owned or operated by PBS who had their personal video viewing information disclosed to Facebook by PBS.

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