Legal Investigation Looks into H&R Block Over Potential Privacy Violations

Attorneys working with ClassAction.org want to hear from California and Pennsylvania residents with Facebook accounts who used H&R Block’s online tax preparation and filing services.

They suspect that H&R Block may be using a website tracking tool known as the Facebook pixel to collect customers’ financial information and secretly pass it along to Facebook without users’ consent. Now, the attorneys are gathering consumers to take action against H&R Block over potential violations of California and Pennsylvania privacy laws.

How Could H&R Block Have Violated Users’ Privacy?

Many website operators use tracking tools such as the Facebook pixel to collect information about how people use their websites, which can be useful for advertising purposes.

The Facebook pixel is a piece of code embedded on a webpage that can be programmed to track certain actions users take, including the buttons they click, the content they view, and the information they type into a form or search bar. Importantly, the pixel can also track each user’s Facebook ID – a unique identifier that can be used to locate their profile – which can allow both the website operator and Facebook to match an individual Facebook user to their online activity.

A website’s use of the Facebook pixel could potentially violate certain states’ privacy laws if the website operator failed to obtain users’ consent before collecting and sharing their sensitive personal information.

Is This a Class Action Lawsuit?

No, you are signing up to participate in what’s called “mass arbitration,” which is different from a class action lawsuit and takes place outside of court.

H&R Block’s online services agreement requires that users resolve any disputes with the company through arbitration instead of a lawsuit. For this reason, the attorneys working with ClassAction.org have decided to handle H&R Block’s potential privacy violations on a mass arbitration basis.

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution through which two parties may resolve a matter before an independent arbitrator instead of a judge or jury.

Mass arbitration involves hundreds or thousands of consumers filing individual arbitration claims against the same company at the same time.

How Much Does This Cost?

It costs nothing to sign up, and you’ll only need to pay if the attorneys win money on your behalf. Their payment will come as a percentage of the amount you’re awarded. If they don’t win your claim, you don’t pay.

How Much Could I Get?

It’s possible that those who sign up for the mass arbitration could have claims worth up to $1,000 or more, though it’s not guaranteed.

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