Nuwber Illegally Uses Illinois Residents’ Identities to Sell Subscriptions, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action alleges Nuwber, Inc. unlawfully uses the identities of Illinois residents to sell subscriptions to its database containing proprietary “detailed reports” available to anyone willing to pay a monthly fee. 

The 12-page lawsuit charges that those who appear in Nuwber’s advertisements never consented to having their identities used for any reason, let alone for marketing or commercial purposes. Nuwber has therefore violated the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, the complaint claims. 

To market its services, Nuwber encourages users to perform a free “people search” on its website, the case begins. When a consumer performs a free search for a person, the defendant displays a page containing the searched individual’s name in addition to certain, albeit limited, uniquely identifying details, such as age, location and names of relatives, the suit states.

Per the complaint, the purpose of Nuwber’s free search results are twofold. First, the results allegedly show potential customers that the company’s database contains detailed information on the specific individual for whom they searched and shows that the more detailed report, which is not free, contains more information than the free version. Second, these pages allow Nuwber to sell its paid subscription plan whereby detailed reports on anyone in its database can be accessed, the lawsuit says. 

As the complaint tells it, however, Nuwber is not selling detailed reports on citizens who are searched for on its website, but is instead “us[ing] their identities to sell subscriptions to its paid service,” the case details. 

Unsurprisingly, the case says, those who appear in Nuwber’s advertisements never gave consent to be included in the company’s marketing. According to the lawsuit, the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, passed by state legislature in 1999, protects the rights of Illinois residents to control and choose whether and how their identities are used for commercial purposes. 

“The Act protects individuals from the unauthorized use of any of their attributes, including but not limited to, their names, signatures, photographs, images, likenesses, or voices in the sale or advertisement of goods, merchandise, products, and services,” the case says. 

Nuwber never notified proposed class members that their names and information would appear on its marketing page in conjunction with an offer to buy access to the company’s database, the complaint alleges, and the plaintiffs and proposed class members “have no relationship with Nuwber whatsoever.”

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