Extra Space Storage Secretly Allows TikTok to Track Website Users, Class Action Lawsuit Claims
Heiting v. Extra Space Storage, Inc.
Filed: May 22, 2024 ◆§ 2:24-cv-04243
A class action lawsuit alleges Extra Space Storage has secretly allowed TikTok to track consumers’ behavior on the self-storage provider’s website.
A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Extra Space Storage has secretly allowed TikTok to track consumers’ behavior on the self-storage provider’s website.
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The 12-page Extra Space Storage lawsuit accuses the company of partnering with TikTok “to learn all that it can about people who are experiencing life transitions,” namely by way of sophisticated tracking software installed on Extra Space’s website. This partnership allows TikTok to “track all user behavior of anyone with the misfortune of visiting Extra Space’s website,” the case summarizes.
According to the complaint, information collected by TikTok through the Extra Space Storage website is deanonymized so that both parties can use the information to “put together their own respective dossiers of American citizens.”
The suit alleges Extra Space Storage’s installation of TikTok tracking software on its website is a violation of California’s Trap and Trace Law.
“Defendant operates https://extraspace.com, however the website alone is not useful in finding customers that are within a targeted marketing group,” the case expands. “This is why Defendant has installed on its Website software created by TikTok in order to identify website visitors.”
The TikTok software at issue, which runs on virtually every page on Extra Space’s website, uses a process known as “fingerprinting” to collect as much data as possible on an otherwise anonymous user and match it with existing data in TikTok’s possession, the suit relays.
The software obtains device and browser details, geographic data, referral tracking and URL specifics, the filing adds.
“Additionally, since ExtraSpace has decided to use TikTok’s ‘AutoAdvanced Matching’ technology, TikTok scans every website for information. Thus, when the website asks for information, such as name, date of birth, and address, the information is sent simultaneously to TikTok, so that TikTok can isolate with certainty the individual to be targeted.”
According to the lawsuit, the TikTok software on the Extra Space Storage website is a “trap and trace device” under California law given that it captures incoming electronic impulses and identifying information generated by users, who are not informed that the defendant’s website “is collaborating with the Chinese government to obtain their phone number and other identifying information.”
The Extra Space Storage lawsuit looks to cover all persons in California whose information was sent to TikTok by ExtraSpace.com within the statute of limitations period.
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