TJX Companies Facing Class Action for Allegedly Embedding Spyware in Marketing Emails

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges TJX Companies—which owns discount retailers such as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods and Homesense—has secretly embedded web-tracking technology into its marketing emails.

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The 17-page lawsuit claims the corporation uses tracking codes known as “spy pixels” to collect information about email recipients for targeted marketing purposes. The suit contends that TJX has recorded this data without the knowledge or consent of subscribers to its email list, in violation of a state privacy law.

Per the case, the hidden trackers capture sensitive information including the recipient's email address, the time and place they open a message, how long they spend reading it, their IP address, their device details, the subject of each email and more.

The complaint adds that the spyware is virtually invisible and triggers automatically once a message is opened.

“To activate a spy pixel, recipients only need to open the email,” the filing shares. “The recipient does not need to directly engage with the pixel—when an email is opened the tracking pixel is automatically downloaded.”

The plaintiff, an Arizona resident, says she has frequently received and opened promotional emails related to Marshalls in the past few years. The suit alleges that by doing so, the woman had her private information unlawfully captured by the defendant without her knowledge or authorization.

“[TJX’s] invasive surveillance of [the plaintiff’s] sensitive reading habits and clandestine collection of her confidential email records invaded her privacy and intruded upon her seclusion,” the case charges.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Arizona who has opened a marketing email containing a tracking pixel from TJX Companies.

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