Class Action Claims Consumer Reports ‘Profited Handsomely’ by Sharing Readers’ Personal Info with Third Parties

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Consumer Reports, Inc. is on the receiving end of a proposed class action lawsuit filed by a Rhode Island resident who claims the company has “profited handsomely” from disclosing without authorization consumers’ “personal reading information”—including full names, titles of magazines subscribed to, and home addresses, among other data. The 38-page lawsuit, filed in New York, alleges Consumer Reports disclosed proposed class members’ personal information to “data aggregators, data appenders, data cooperatives, and list brokers, among others,” who in turn disclosed customers’ data to “aggressive advertisers.” The complaint cites potential violations of Rhode Island’s Video, Audio and Publication Rentals Privacy Act (RIVRPA).

According to the lawsuit, the customer data Consumer Reports allegedly shares without consent include readers’ personal, lifestyle and demographic information, such as “gender, age, ethnicity, income, religion, parental status, and political affiliation.” The case points out that Consumer Reports does not explicitly sell such information to data aggregators, but rents and/or exchanges the data so that the company “is able to disclose the information time and time again to countless third parties,” sometimes for as low as roughly “$180 per thousand customers listed,” the suit says.

The plaintiff says that as a result of Consumer Reports’ data-sharing practices, he now receives junk mail from charities and other organizations.