Search Platform Datanyze.com Used Consumers’ Personal Info for Profit Without Consent, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Datanyze, an online business search platform provider, used Ohio citizens’ personal information to advertise and sell its subscription programs without obtaining their consent.

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The 16-page lawsuit says that despite failing to acquire written consent from business professionals listed on its online directory, the company allowed users to access their names and other identifying information as part of a 90-day free trial “for the purpose of enticing” users to pay for a subscription. Under Ohio law, Datanyze is prohibited from using individuals’ names, images, and other personally identifiable information for commercial purposes—such as selling subscriptions—without first obtaining written consent, the suit relays.

Datanyze’s platform is primarily designed to connect sales and marketing professionals with business-to-business sales prospects, whose profiles can be accessed through Datanyze.com or a Google Chrome extension operating through LinkedIn, the complaint says. Per the filing, users can search and filter details about specific companies and their employees and view whatever personal information is stored on the platform, such as individuals’ names, personal and business email addresses, telephone numbers, photographs, job titles, links to social media pages, and employment and education histories. According to the case, the information listed on the defendant’s platform—which boasts more than 120 million profiles—no doubt provides enough detail to identify an individual, and “[i]n fact, Datanyze guarantees the accuracy of its contact information.”

Datanyze’s 90-day free trial allots prospective users 10 credits per month, which allow access to 10 profiles on the platform, the lawsuit explains. At the end of the trial period or after the credits are used, consumers are required to subscribe in order to view additional profiles, the case states.

As the suit tells it, the free trial and limited access are part of the company’s marketing efforts.

“Datanyze uses the 90-day free trial, along with the limited access to employee profiles as found through their names, to advertise and convince prospective customers to purchase its monthly subscription services,” the complaint reads.

The Ohio-based plaintiffs purportedly discovered in February 2023 that their names and other personal information appeared on Datanyze’s platform and were accessible via LinkedIn, the filing shares.

According to the suit, because prospective users have had access to the plaintiffs’ data through the company’s free trial, the individuals’ identities and personal information have therefore been used by Datanyze to “solicit the purchase of paid subscriptions.”

Neither of the plaintiffs provided the company with written consent to use their name or identifying information for commercial purposes, as required by law, the case says.

The lawsuit looks to represent all current and former Ohio residents who are not subscribed to Datanyze’s platform and whose name, voice, signature, photograph, image, likeness, distinctive appearance and/or identity is found in profiles used to market the defendant’s paid subscriptions.

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