HBO faces class-action lawsuit over allegations that it shared customer data with Facebook without permission

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against HBO, alleging that the company shared its subscribers’ data with Facebook without permission. According to Bursor & Fisher, a class action law firm, HBO shared customers’ viewing history with Facebook, allowing the social media platform to match these viewing habits with its profiles.

The suit suggests that HBO did not have subscriber consent to share the data and is therefore violating the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), a federal privacy law. Bursor & Fisher claims that the matched data is being used for retargeting HBO customers on Facebook with marketing.

The HBO privacy policy states that the company can use cookies collected by itself and selected partners to deliver personalized ads. However, the sharing of viewing history is not mentioned, so customers may not expect this data processing.

Bursor & Fisher are currently acting on behalf of two subscribers. The same firm also took on Hearst, alleging that it had violated a video privacy law in Michigan by selling customer data. In this case, Hearst settled for US$50 million.

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