Warner Bros. Unlawfully Disclosed CNN.com Subscriber Data to Facebook, Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action alleges Warner Bros. Discovery has unlawfully shared CNN.com subscribers’ identities and video viewing history with Facebook.

According to the 19-page case, Warner Bros. Discovery, who owns CNN.com and its corresponding app, has breached the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by disclosing consumers’ sensitive data to Facebook without their consent. The VPPA states that a “video tape service provider” must receive a consumer’s written permission before disseminating their personally identifiable information to a third party.

Per the complaint, when a digital subscriber clicks on a CNN.com video, the video title, URL, and the viewer’s Facebook ID (FID) are made available to the social media giant. A Facebook ID “uniquely identifies an individual’s Facebook user account” so that Facebook “can use it to quickly and easily locate, access, and view digital subscribers’ corresponding Facebook profile,” the lawsuit says. The case argues that access to this information helps Facebook hone its targeted ad capabilities.

As the complaint tells it, Warner Bros. Discovery’s practice of sharing users’ personal information with Facebook lines the company’s pockets at the expense of its subscribers’ privacy rights.

Moreover, the case contends that this practice could pose a larger security risk to CNN.com subscribers given how easily a person’s Facebook ID can be used to locate their personal Facebook profile:

Warner Bros. Discovery allegedly tracks user data using an “automatic and invisible” process involving cookies, software development kits, and pixels. Specifically, the complaint contends that Warner Bros. Discovery has embedded a piece of code, the Facebook tracking pixel, on its website to collect data about how visitors use the site, including what videos they watch.

As the complaint argues, subscribers have no way of knowing CNN.com will disclose their data to Facebook. The news site states in its privacy policy that it collects “personal information” from users, but there is no disclaimer that this data will be shared with third parties, the suit says.

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in the United States who has subscribed to a website owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery and had their video viewing information disclosed to Facebook by Warner Bros. Discovery.

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