Refused cookies on the site, but their data was still collected — in the US, buyers filed a lawsuit against the retail chain
In the USA, a group of online shoppers filed a class action lawsuit against the owner of the clothing brands Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant. The plaintiffs claim that the company continued to collect user data even after users opted out of non-essential cookies on the websites.
The lawsuit was filed in the Federal Court for the Northern District of California, reports Courthouse News.
What data could have been collected after opting out of cookies
The lawsuit states that on the brands' websites, users were shown a standard cookie settings window with the option to disable tracking. However, according to the plaintiffs, even after opting out of data collection, third-party services still received information about users' actions on the sites.
Among the companies allegedly receiving user data are Google Analytics, TikTok, Adobe, Salesforce, Snapchat, and Pinterest.
The plaintiffs assert that third-party services continued to track page views and other user activity despite their refusal of non-essential cookies.
"This is exactly the kind of data collection users wanted to avoid when they disabled all non-essential cookies," the lawsuit states.
What the buyers demand in court
The plaintiffs claim that the company misled people by promising to respect privacy settings but in fact continued to transmit data to third parties.
The lawsuit concerns residents of California who used the websites after opting out of non-essential cookies. The exact number of affected individuals is unknown, but the lawsuit indicates it involves at least over 100 people.
The buyers demand compensation and penalty payments. They also accuse the company of violating privacy rights, unlawful data collection, and breaching California privacy protection laws.
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