The plaintiffs—Laurie Brown, Oluwakemi Fosudo, and Abigail Musick—claim Walmart’s actions breached the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), which safeguards consumers’ video rental and purchase histories.
Walmart has not officially responded to the claims in court yet, but told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement: “We take the privacy and security of our customers seriously and will review the Complaint and respond in Court as appropriate.”
The lawsuit, filed on July 15, centers on Walmart’s use of the “Meta Pixel,” a piece of code embedded in its website.
According to the plaintiffs, this code has been systematically transmitting the personal information of Walmart’s customers, including their Facebook IDs (FIDs) and the titles of videos they purchased, to Meta without obtaining the required consent.
“Defendant disclosed and continues to disclose its customers’ Private Viewing Information to Meta without asking for, let alone obtaining, their consent to these practices,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs argue that Walmart’s practices violate the VPPA, which prohibits video service providers from knowingly disclosing personally identifiable information about their consumers without explicit, written consent.
The three plaintiffs claim they purchased video material from Walmart’s website and their information was shared with Meta—further alleging that Walmart did not inform them of these practices nor seek their consent, a requirement under the VPPA.
The VPPA, enacted in 1988, was designed to protect consumers’ privacy concerning their video rental and purchase histories, according to the complaint.
It imposes penalties of $2,500 per violation. The lawsuit argues that Walmart’s actions not only violated this law, but also intruded upon the plaintiffs’ privacy.
“The VPPA clearly prohibits what Defendant has done,” the complaint asserts. The plaintiffs seek several remedies, including certification of the lawsuit as a class action; damages of $2,500 per violation for each affected individual; and an injunction to prevent Walmart from continuing these practices.
The suit highlights growing scrutiny on how companies handle consumer data.
“Every day, Americans are forced to provide to businesses and others personal information without having any control over where that information goes,” the plaintiffs noted, quoting U.S. senators’ concerns from the time of the VPPA’s enactment.
They added the senators were particularly troubled “by disclosures of records that reveal consumers’ purchases and rentals of videos and other audiovisual materials because such records offer ‘a window into our loves, likes, and dislikes.'”
