NBA Top Shot NFT Owners’ Video-Viewing Data Secretly Shared with Meta, Class Action Claims
Fan v. NBA Properties, Inc. et al.
Filed: October 3, 2023 ◆§ 3:23-cv-05069
A class action alleges the details of NBA Top Shot NFT owners’ video-viewing habits have been shared with third parties, including Meta, without consent.
California
A proposed class action alleges NBA Properties, the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) and Dapper Labs have violated federal law by collecting and sharing the details of NBA Top Shot NFT owners’ video-viewing habits to third parties, including Meta, without consent.
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The 25-page case claims the defendants, who through their joint venture NBA Top Shot sell blockchain video “moments” to basketball fans worldwide, have run afoul of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by failing to keep anonymous and private the identities of those who own the non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The case describes NBA Top Shot “moments” as “21st Century trading cards” as they allow fans to own pre-recorded video clips of their favorite NBA players amid highlight-worthy plays and, like trading cards, are “minted, numbered, and released in limited quantities” so as to be collectible. Though anyone can view the video clips on NBATopShot.com, they are owned by only certain people through NFTs, and the data of each ownership resides on a private blockchain, the suit explains.
“One of the main appeals of blockchain technology like this is that it allows anyone to verify the ownership of an asset while simultaneously keeping the owner’s identity anonymous.”
The suit claims, however, that whenever NBA Top Shot users, who are given randomly generated usernames, view or purchase video clips on the website, NBA Top Shot discloses their personally identifiable information to Meta by way of a back-end tracking pixel. Unbeknownst to users, the Meta Pixel collects their video viewing and transaction history and discloses it to Meta “completely separately” from the private, supposedly anonymous blockchain ledger on which the ownership of the pre-recorded Top Shot video clips is stored, the lawsuit alleges.
“Meta, in turn, uses Plaintiff and class members’ video consumption habits to deliver targeted advertisements to them,” the filing adds.
Although the defendants do not disclose the real-life identities of users who own particular Top Shot video clips, the information passed on to Meta is sufficient to allow anyone to identify a viewed video’s content and title, the suit says. Through the Meta Pixel, the social media company can learn, among other things, which NBATopShot.com video clips a user has requested and obtained, and when they have bought an NFT, the filing says.
The whole of the information provided by the defendants allows Meta to match any NBA Top Shot user with a corresponding Facebook profile and link the profile to their activity on NBATopShot.com, the lawsuit summarizes.
According to the case, the VPPA only permits “video tape service providers” such as the defendants to disclose someone’s personally identifiable information if they obtain informed, written consent before doing so.
The lawsuit looks to cover all individuals in the United States who have a Facebook account and NBATopShot.com account and viewed or purchased video clips on NBATopShot.com on or after October 3, 2023.
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