Privacy Lawsuits Allege Twilio, Verve, Amplitude Software Dev Kits Steal Consumers’ Data

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Twilio, Verve Group and Amplitude face privacy lawsuits that allege the data analytics companies’ respective software development kits (SDKs) allow secret “backdoor access” to consumers’ devices, serving as a “data collection pipeline” to track the locations and in-app activities of unsuspecting millions nationwide.

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The proposed class action cases, filed on August 8 in California, allege that the data siphoned by Twilio, Verve and Amplitude is “incredibly sensitive” and can give the companies insight into details as personal as consumers’ religious affiliation, sexual orientation and medical conditions.

The case against Twilio claims the company collects consumers’ in-app search terms, keystrokes, button presses, page views, names, email addresses and more—potentially revealing information about users’ interests and other behavioral attributes. For instance, Twilio’s SDK gathers real-time data from the Calm meditation app that can indicate whether an individual is experiencing anxiety, depression or other mental health issues, the lawsuit alleges.

Similarly, geolocation data collected by Verve and Amplitude can reveal where consumers live and work and places they frequent, among other personal details, the privacy lawsuits stress.

“This enormous volume of data enables Verve and its monetization partners to build and sell comprehensive profiles of each consumer that includes [sic] their movements and whereabouts,” the complaint against Verve reads.

The business models of Twilio, Verve and Amplitude depend entirely on collecting sensitive first-party consumer data and sharing it with ad networks, data warehouses and other partners, the lawsuits claim. To accomplish this, each company deploys an SDK, a collection of “reusable and packaged” computer code that allows apps to save time and execute specific tasks.

Software development kits can not only gather personal information such as app users’ names and email addresses, but can be designed to intercept the content of each consumer’s electronic communications with a mobile app, the Twilio lawsuit shares.

The Verve lawsuit claims that although the company assures that the data collected from consumers’ devices through its PubNative SDK remains anonymous, the data analyzer utilizes an “identity graphs” process whereby it “ingests and analyzes” the litany of identifiers it allegedly vacuums up from apps and third parties. With this data, Verve can not only create a comprehensive profile on a consumer but also cross-reference and correlate certain device identifiers with personal information to pinpoint someone’s identity, the class action alleges.

The Twilio lawsuitechoes that the company, through its Segment SDK, uses the names, email addresses and other identifiers it gathers from consumers to compile digital dossiers containing the “complete activity history” across web, mobile and other “digital touchpoints” for individual people.

The Amplitude lawsuit says that more than 40,000 app developers have integrated the company’s SDK, including DoorDash.

Similarly, upward of 11,000 mobile app developers have integrated Twilio’s Segment SDK, the case against the company says.

Verve’s parent company claims its SDK is on over 2 billion devices worldwide, according to the suit against the company.

The problem with each SDK, the cases contend, is that consumers have no idea that, by interacting with an app into which the SDK is embedded, their sensitive data is being secretly siphoned off by an unknown third party.

The Twilio and Amplitude privacy lawsuits look to cover all individuals who downloaded and used an app on their mobile device that contained the Twilio Segment SDK or Amplitude SDK, respectively, and that did not publicly disclose the data analytics companies in any of the app’s notices or disclosures.

The Verve lawsuit looks to cover California residents who downloaded and used an app on their mobile device that contained the PubNative SDK and did not publicly disclose “Verve” or “PubNative” in any of the app’s notices or disclosures.

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