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Woman Sues Blockbuster and Facebook for Violating Privacy
A 25-year old woman from Dallas County, Texas, has filed two lawsuits, one against Blockbuster Inc. (“Blockbuster”), the Texas-based movie and video game-rental company, and the other against Facebook, the global social networking website. Together, the lawsuits allege a partnership between the two companies which allowed Blockbuster to send the woman’s movie rental information to Facebook, without giving her a reasonable opportunity to opt-out. Such information was then displayed on her Facebook profile, showing her full name and the name of the rented movie.
The Texas lawsuits focus on Facebook’s “Beacon” system, an advertising-based tracking technology that records the online activities of Facebook users. Such a system facilitates user interaction on Facebook, but also provides advertisers with useful information. Although the Beacon system uses an opt-in approach, the lawsuits allege that such a system still violates the U.S. Video Privacy Protection Act, which makes it illegal for a company to disclose information about a customer’s rental habits without their knowledge. Although the Beacon system may not display customer information, it facilitates its disclosure.
Notably, Facebook is currently settling a similar lawsuit in California in which it has agreed to discontinue use of the Beacon system there. The final outcome of the California lawsuit may determine if a class-action lawsuit in Texas will continue.
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