Sandviks Discloses Subscribers’ Data Michigan Class Action

Are publishers allowed to earn money from information about their subscribers? The complaint for this class action sues Sandviks, Inc. for disclosing subscribers’ Private Reading Information during a particular time period, before Michigan’s Preservation of Personal Privacy Act (PPPA) was amended.

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 Sandviks without their consent.

Sandviks operates subscription-based book clubs for those with children up to six years of age, such as Hooked on Phonics, Hooked on Reading, Dr. Seuss & His Friends, The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, National Geographic Kids, and Early Moments.

The complaint quotes a part of the PPPA as saying, “[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 customers, a record or information concerning the purchase … of those materials by a customer that indicates the identity of the customer.”

The plaintiff in this case, Teagan Lilly, subscribes to the Sandviks Early Moments book club. The complaint alleges that Sandviks disclosed subscribers’ information to “data aggregators, data appenders, data cooperatives, and list brokers, among others, which in turn disclosed her information to aggressive advertisers, political organizations, and non-profit companies. As a result, [Lilly] has received a barrage of unwanted junk mail.”

How do we know Sandviks was disclosing subscriber information to others? The complaint shows a listing from list broker NextMark, Inc., entitled “Early Moments Book Club Enhanced Masterfile” which makes available this the information of more than 250,000 US subscribers at a base price of $95 per thousand.

The complaint alleges, “By renting, exchanging, or otherwise disclosing the Private Reading Information of its Michigan-based subscribers during the relevant pre-July 30, 2016 time period, Sandviks violated the PPPA.”

According to the complaint, Sandviks did not tell Lilly that it discloses the Private Reading Material of its customers to others, and it did not get her authorization to share her information.

The complaint alleges that customer information is often sold to direct-mail advertisers. “In addition to causing waste and inconvenience,” the complaint alleges, “direct-mail advertisers often use customer information to lure unsuspecting consumers into various scams, including fraudulent sweepstakes, charities, and buying clubs.” Some of the information also finds its way to thieves and fraudulent telemarketers, the complaint alleges.

According to the complaint, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also cautioned, “The elderly often are the deliberate targets of fraudulent telemarketers who take advantage of the fact that many older people have cash reserves or other assets to spend on seemingly attractive offers.” The complaint claims that “an entire black market exists where the private information of vulnerable elderly Americans is exchanged.”

The complaint contends that Sandviks is “jeopardizing its subscribers’ privacy and wellbeing in exchange for increased revenue[.]”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: Sharing Personal Information with Third Parties, Using Your Private Information Without Consent, Your Privacy