ZoomInfo Names and Info Used to Sell Subscriptions California Class Action

ZoomInfo Technologies, Inc. sells subscriptions that offer access to information on private individuals. But the complaint for this class action alleges that it also displays the names and information of certain individuals, without their permission, as teaser profiles, to sell its subscriptions to potential customers.

The class for this action is all California residents who are not subscribers of zoominfo.com and whose names and personal information ZoomInfo incorporated in teaser profiles it uses to promoted its products.

ZoomInfo sells subscriptions that offer extensive information on private individuals, the complaint alleges: “At a cost of $10,000 or more per year, a zoomifo.com subscription delivers ‘Full Access’ to the names, contact information, work histories, and other personal information of millions of individuals.”

The subscriptions also offer other services, the complaint says, including ZoomInfo’s intent engine, which “captures consumption patterns and buying signals across the web[;]” Zoom Engage, offering automated e-mail and phone-related service; and ZoomInfo Enrich, which adds to information the user has about a person with information from ZoomInfo’s database.

To advertise its subscriptions, ZoomInfo offers teaser profiles; then it sells access to full profiles for profit.

The “names, personal information, photographs, likenesses, and personas have commercial value[,]” the complaint alleges. “ZoomInfo has acknowledged the commercial value of … names and information in public statements to its investors.” The complaint quotes the company’s 2020 annual report as saying, “The business contact information and other personal data we collect and process are an integral part of our products and services.”

ZoomInfo displayed information on the plaintiff in this case, Kim Carter Martinez, including “her name, e[-]mail address, phone number, place of work, names and contact information of her associates, workplace organization chart, and additional personal information.” ZoomInfo claims to get this information from “third-party vendors,” but the company admits that it is “ultimately unable to verify with complete certainty the source of such data, how it was received, and that such information was collected and is being shared with us in compliance with all applicable data privacy laws.”

ZoomInfo, the complaint alleges, also collects information from subscribers to its Community Edition, including contact information from everyone with whom the subscriber has e-mailed in the past.

The complaint contends that, while individuals may have consented to the use of their information in different contexts, such as on a company website, that does not amount to consent to its use in other contexts. The complaint alleges, “Plaintiff and the Class did not consent to the commercial use of their names and personal information to promote subscriptions to a website with which they have no relationship, and which they have no interest in promoting.”

Also, it says, “Plaintiff and the Class did not consent to ZoomInfo selling access to their names and personal information as part of its subscription products.”

The complaint bring suit under California’s Right of Publicity Statute and its common law tort of misappropriation of name and likeness.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Privacy
Tags: Using Your Picture For Commercial Gain, Using Your Private Information Without Consent, Your Privacy