Amazon Dodges VPPA Suit on Sharing Prime Members' Video-Viewing Data
A federal judge tossed a Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) suit against Amazon on Tuesday, ruling that the plaintiffs didn't state claims alleging true violations of the statute. Judge James Robart granted Amazon's motion to dismiss, agreeing that there were no plausible allegations that Prime members' personally identifiable information (PII) was actually disclosed to company affiliates.
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The plaintiffs argue that even if the allegations affirmatively show data disclosure, they "permit an inference of disclosure,” but "the court is not persuaded," Robart wrote. "Plaintiffs’ newly-added allegations are either speculative or far removed from the central issue of whether Amazon Services discloses PII to Amazon affiliates" and do not constitute a VPPA violation.
Case 24-00316, filed in the U.S. District Court for Western Washington, was a class-action brought against Amazon Services over allegations that it disclosed the PII of Prime members to its parent company, which is illegal under the VPPA and Washington state's Consumer Protection Act (see 2403110036).
The dismissed complaint was the plaintiffs' third amended complaint in the case. In Robart's order, the judge denied the request for the plaintiffs to file a fourth amended request.