Adam & Eve Shared Consumers’ Sex Toy Preferences with Google, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges consumers who browse the adult products website AdamEve.com have had details of their sexual preferences, sexual orientation, sexual practices, fetishes, sex toy preferences and more shared with Google without their knowledge or consent. 

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The 30-page lawsuit was filed in California on January 3 by a pseudonymous plaintiff who claims that her private and protected sexual information and IP address were shared by AdamEve.com owner PHE Inc. with Google without her consent in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act. In particular, the case claims AdamEve.com sends users’ non-anonymized information to the tech giant by way of Google Analytics, a service that allows website owners to “track visitor actions on their website in order to target them with personalized advertisements.” 

“Simply put, Google can use the information that PHE is disclosing in order to identify a specific consumer’s actions on [AdamEve.com],” the case summarizes. 

The filing relays that by using Google Analytics without anonymizing users’ IP addresses, PHE shares their activity and protected sexual information on AdamEve.com “even when consumers have not shared (nor have consented to share) such information.” Included in the complaint are multiple screenshots that purport to make clear that Google Analytics “immediately and automatically” learns what specific products a user may be browsing, or has purchased, on AdamEve.com:

“The surreptitious disclosure of Private and Protected Sexual Information is an outrageous invasion of privacy and would be offensive to a reasonable person,” the case scathes. 

According to the lawsuit, it is a violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act to allow someone other than the website user or website developer, owner or operator to “read or learn the contents of messages, reports, or communications” without the consent of all involved parties. The plaintiff, who the suit says has used AdamEve.com to search for and buy products on more than one occasion, stresses that Google “is not a party to the messages, reports, or communications” between herself and PHE. 

The case looks to cover all California residents who have visited AdamEve.com, navigated through the website, entered search terms on the website, and/or purchased adult products on the website. 

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