WebMD, Mouseflow Hit with Class Action Over Alleged ‘Wiretapping’ of Calif. Website Visitors

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A proposed class action claims WebMD LLC and Mouseflow, Inc. have overstepped a California privacy law by secretly recording in real time WebMD.com visitors’ keystrokes, mouse clicks and possibly personally identifiable information.

According to the case, visitors to WebMD.com are unaware that their electronic communications, locations and device types are being intercepted and disclosed to Mouseflow and have not authorized the capturing of their information. The lawsuit claims the defendants’ tracking of consumers’ online actions and communications constitutes an illegal wiretap in violation of California’s Invasion of Privacy Act.

“In short,” the complaint states, “Mouseflow functions as a wiretap, and Mouseflow is a self-admitted eavesdropper who uses those wiretaps.”

Mouseflow has partnered with over 165,000 clients, including WebMD, to provide software that “surreptitiously records” website visitors’ interactions with a website in real time, the lawsuit explains. Per the complaint, the company’s “Session Replay” feature tracks users’ mouse clicks, keystrokes, mouse movements, scrolls and other interactions, including touch screen gestures. Mouseflow also tracks information about users’ devices, locations, and “much more,” the suit says.

According to the case, Mouseflow’s recording and storing of users’ private electronic communications, which may also include the entering of personally identifiable information on WebMD’s website, contravenes the California Invasion of Privacy Act in that website visitors were unaware of and never provided their consent to have their private information recorded.

The suit mirrors cases filed recently in California over similar claims of “wiretapping” of visitors to Chevrolet.com and WorldOfWarcraft.com by the companies who run those websites.

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