{"id":1205,"date":"2024-02-09T14:04:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T18:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/?p=1205"},"modified":"2024-02-09T14:04:44","modified_gmt":"2024-02-09T18:04:44","slug":"spygate-2-0-new-england-patriots-sued-in-vppa-privacy-class-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/2024\/02\/09\/spygate-2-0-new-england-patriots-sued-in-vppa-privacy-class-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Spygate 2.0? New England Patriots Sued In VPPA Privacy Class Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Alex W. Karasik and Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Duane Morris Takeaways:\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>On February 1, 2024, a football fan filed a class action lawsuit<\/a> against the New England Patriots in a Massachusetts federal court, alleging that the football team\u2019s mobile app (the \u201cApp\u201d) knowingly disclosed users\u2019 location data and personal information to third-parties in alleged violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act (\u201cVPPA\u201d). This lawsuit marks the latest high-profile VPPA class action lawsuit filing, which have significantly spiked in the last two years.<\/em><\/p>\n

Although the recent tide of VPPA class action court rulings has generally tipped in favor of defendants, the plaintiffs\u2019 class action bar is still exploring novel theories to bring these high-stakes cases. Companies must therefore pay close attention to privacy-related issues involving mobile applications, including what data is collected and to whom it is transmitted.<\/em><\/p>\n

The VPPA <\/strong><\/p>\n

Congress passed the VPPA in 1988.\u00a0 The statute imposes liability on, \u201c[a] video tape service provider who knowingly discloses, to any person, personally identifiable information concerning any consumer of such provider.\u201d \u00a018 U.S.C. \u00a7 2710(b)(1). \u00a0A \u201cvideo tape service provider\u201d is defined as \u201cany person, engaged in the business, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, of rental, sale, or delivery of prerecorded video cassette tapes or similar audio visual materials.\u201d \u00a0Id<\/em>. 3-4 (citations omitted). \u00a0\u201cPersonally identifiable information\u201d (\u201cPII\u201d) is defined as \u201cinformation which identifies a person as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services from a video service provider.\u201d \u00a0Id. \u00a0<\/em>In essence, the statute purports to account for advancements in video-delivery technology by defining a \u201cvideo tape service provider\u201d broadly to include any business engaged in the \u201crental, sale, or delivery of prerecorded video cassette tapes or similar audio visual materials.\u201d \u00a0Id. <\/em><\/p>\n

The New VPPA Class Action Lawsuit<\/strong><\/p>\n

Plaintiff alleges that he downloaded and installed the App to his mobile phone and regularly used it to access video content. \u00a0Id. <\/em>at 2.\u00a0 When downloading the App, users are presented with an option to sign into an existing account, create a new account, or continue without signing in by selecting \u201cMAYBE LATER.\u201d\u00a0 Id. <\/em>at 4-5.\u00a0 Plaintiff alleges that consumers who select \u201cMAYBE LATER\u201d are not presented with the App\u2019s Terms of Use or Privacy Policy.\u00a0 And even if users select \u201cJOIN NOW\u201d, they are redirected to a login screen where they have the option to log in, but are not required to view or assent to any terms of use or privacy policy unless they take additional steps to create an account.\u00a0 Id. <\/em>at 5.<\/p>\n

In terms of data collection, the lawsuit alleges that when a user opens a video on the App, the App sends the content type, video title, and a persistent identifier to the user\u2019s device. The App then transmits to third parties the user\u2019s information, including location (in geographical coordinates and altitude), advertising ID, and video content consumption. Id. <\/em>at 6. According to the complaint, the New England Patriots allegedly leverage users\u2019 geolocation so it can maximize advertising revenue and, to that end, uniquely identify its users. For Android software users, the complaint alleges that the Patriots unique advertising ID called an Android Advertising ID (\u201cAAID\u201d) for each of its users with third-parties, which enables a third party to track the user\u2019s movements, habits, and activity on mobile applications.\u00a0 Id. <\/em>at 10.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, the lawsuit alleges that through the New England Patriots\u2019 dissemination of consumers\u2019 PII, third parties such as Google can collect and store billions of metrics and events and make it easier for clients to make data-driven decisions, and these reports are continuously updated and metrics are reported as they occur. \u00a0Id <\/em>at 16. \u00a0Plaintiff seeks to represent a class defined as \u201cAll persons in the United States who used the Patriots App to watch videos and had their personally identifiable information \u2014 including but not limited to the videos they watched, their geolocation, and their unique advertising IDs \u2014 transmitted to one or more third parties.\u201d\u00a0 Id<\/em>.\u00a0 On behalf of the class, Plaintiff seeks an award of damages, including, but not limited to, actual, consequential, punitive, statutory, and nominal damages.<\/p>\n

Implications For Businesses<\/strong><\/p>\n

This lawsuit represents another example of class action plaintiffs\u2019 lawyers using traditional state and federal laws \u2013 including the long dormant VPPA \u2013 to seek relief for alleged privacy violations.\u00a0 In applying modern technologies to older laws like the VPPA (passed in 1988), courts have grappled with issues such as the determination of who qualifies as a \u201cvideo tape service provider\u201d or a \u201cconsumer\u201d under the statute. It will be interesting to follow this lawsuit to see whether the Court follows the recent trend of courts dismissing VPPA class actions.<\/p>\n

That said, this high-profile filing also suggests that companies should regularly update their online consent provisions as needed to specifically address the VPPA. Businesses that pro-actively implement compliance mechanisms will thank themselves later in terms of preventing class action litigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alex W. Karasik and Gerald L. Maatman, Jr. Duane Morris Takeaways:\u00a0 On February 1, 2024, a football fan filed a class action lawsuit against the New England Patriots in a Massachusetts federal court, alleging that the football team\u2019s mobile app (the \u201cApp\u201d) knowingly disclosed users\u2019 location data and personal information to third-parties in alleged … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Spygate 2.0? New England Patriots Sued In VPPA Privacy Class Action”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[22,7],"class_list":["post-1205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-privacy-class-actions"],"authors":[{"term_id":22,"user_id":582,"is_guest":0,"slug":"awkarasik","display_name":"Alex W. Karasik","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/08\/karasikalex-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""},{"term_id":7,"user_id":575,"is_guest":0,"slug":"gmaatman","display_name":"Gerald L. Maatman, Jr.","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/09\/maatmangerald-100x100.jpg","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/582"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1205"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/classactiondefense\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}