Realtor Magazine Shares Subscriber Information Michigan Class Action

Does a person have a right to privacy in their choice of reading material? Michigan thought so, and so it passed its Protection of Personal Privacy Act (PPPA), which prohibits companies or their employees from disclosing certain kinds of information. But the complaint alleges that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) does disclose the personal information of subscribers to its Realtor magazine, violating the PPPA for subscribers who live in Michigan.

The class for this action is all Michigan residents who, at any point during the relevant pre-July 30, 2016 time period, had their Private Reading Information disclosed to third parties by NAR without consent. (The PPPA has been amended, with the amendment becoming effective on July 31, 2016.)

The complaint quotes the Michigan legislature, when it was passing the PPPA, as saying that “a person’s choice in reading, music, and video entertainment is a private matter, and not a fit subject for consideration by gossipy publications, employers, clubs, or anyone else for that matter.”

A portion of the PPPA is quoted in the complaint: A “person, or an employee or agent of the person, engaged in the business of selling at retail, renting, or lending books or other written materials … shall not disclose to any person, other than the customer, a record or information concerning the purchase … of those materials by a customer that indicates the identity of the customer.”

But the complaint alleges that NAR has made available information about subscribers to its Realtor magazine to “data aggregators, data appenders, data cooperatives, and list brokers, among others, which in turn disclosed [this] information to aggressive advertisers, political organizations, and non-profit companies.” Because of this, the subscribers may then receive “a barrage of unwanted junk mail.”

How do we know this? The complaint reproduces a page from the website of a list broker, NextMark, Inc., which offers to rent something called the “Realtor Magazine Mailing List” for a base price of $120 per thousand.

The complaint alleges that NAR makes this information available “to supplement its revenue.” Among the pieces of information rented are names, home addresses, and individualized data such as age, gender, and income level. The complaint claims that NAR does not get the permission of the subscribers before it does this.

According to the complaint, “NAR’s disclosure of Private Reading Information and other individualized information is not only unlawful, but also dangerous because it allows for the targeting of particularly vulnerable members of society.”

“In addition to causing waste and inconvenience,” the complaint alleges, “direct-mail advertisers often use consumer information to lure unsuspecting consumers into various scams, including fraudulent sweepstakes, charities, and buying clubs.” The information, the complaint says, is also used by fraudulent telemarketers and other criminals, who often target the elderly.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: Reading Listening Viewing Material, Sharing Personal Information with Third Parties, Your Privacy