Flash Cookie Lawsuit Against Specific Media Dismissed
In a sweeping ruling that could influence a broad array of privacy litigation, a judge has dismissed a lawsuit against ad network Specific Media stemming from the company's alleged use of Flash cookies to track Web users.
U.S. District Court Judge George Wu in the Central District of California ruled on Thursday that the seven Web users who are suing the ad network for computer fraud didn't adequately allege they suffered any economic losses as a result of the alleged tracking.
The federal computer fraud statute allows consumers to file suit if they have suffered at least $5,000 in damages. The consumers had argued that information about themselves is valuable, and pointed to new sites like personal.com and i-allow.com that offer ways for users to receive compensation for their data.
But Wu found that the consumers hadn't presented enough facts to show the alleged tracking by Specific Media deprived them of the ability to profit from their data. "The complaint does not identify a single individual who was foreclosed from entering into a 'value-for-value' exchange as a result of Specific Media's alleged conduct," he wrote. "It is not obvious that plaintiffs cannot articulate some actual or imminent injury in fact. It is just that at this point they haven't offered a coherent and factually supported theory of what that injury might be," Wu added.
The dismissal was without prejudice, meaning that the Web users can amend their complaint and bring it again. Scott Kamber, a lawyer for the consumers, says he intends to refile by mid-May. He said the ruling offered "clarification regarding the pleading standard," and added that his clients continue to believe there is "a legal remedy for the wrong."
The lawsuit alleged that Specific Media violated consumers' privacy by using Flash cookies for tracking. Flash cookies were originally designed to remember users' preferences for online video players and other Flash-based applications, but some companies use such cookies to store the same type of information that is normally found on HTTP cookies.
Flash cookies historically persist longer than HTTP cookies because users who delete HTTP cookies don't necessarily also delete Flash cookies. But Adobe recently said its upcoming Flash Player 10.3 will make it easier for people to delete Flash cookies.
Specific Media has denied using Flash cookies at all.
A report about Flash cookies published in 2009 by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and other schools outlined how Flash can be used to circumvent consumers' settings. After the report was published, some Federal Trade Commission officials said they were concerned about the use of Flash for tracking purposes.
That report also led to several lawsuits, including the one against Specific Media. Last year, Web measurement company Quantcast and widget maker Clearspring agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle two class-actions alleging that they violated people's online privacy by using Flash cookies for tracking.
0 comments on " Flash Cookie Lawsuit Against Specific Media Dismissed".
Leave a Comment
Recent Online Media Daily Articles
-
Network Advertising Initiative Proposes New Mobile Privacy Rules May 22, 9:03 p.m.
Moving forward with its plan to issue mobile privacy rules, the self-regulatory group Network Advertising Initiative ... -
Entertainment, Travel Bet On Mobile Banners May 22, 4:16 p.m.
Banner ads have long been the whipping boy of online advertising, and the same is now ... -
Marketers Should Tailor Specific Pitches To Tablet, Smartphone May 22, 2:51 p.m.
Don’t lump tablets in with mobile. That’s the takeaway of a new Forrester study looking at ... -
Good TV Content Trumps On, Whether Trad TV Or Streaming May 22, 2:42 p.m.
While consumers continue to perceive TV programming as superior in quality to that of online fare, ... -
Google Releases Self-Serve Display Benchmark Tool May 22, 2:02 p.m.
Understanding how a brand's online campaign competes with competitors requires trending benchmark data like engagement rates ... -
Twitter Brings Lead Generation To Tweets May 22, 1:14 p.m.
Twitter began testing a lead generation tool Wednesday in its tweet stream that resembles a cross ... -
DigitasLBi, Razorfish Tap Execs For Global Ops May 22, 11:26 a.m.
Publicis Groupe digital agencies DigitasLBi and Razorfish have installed new executives to run their respective international ... -
More Consumers Turn To Mobile To Research, Book Travel May 22, 8:53 a.m.
More than half of consumers used a mobile device to book travel in the last 90 ... -
Showrooming Overhyped, Mobile Key To Shopping Purchases May 22, 8:53 a.m.
Given consumers' mobile in-store shopping trends, some consider the showrooming hoopla overblown. The research process still ... -
Shopping App Swirl Adds In-Store Capability May 22, 8:53 a.m.
Swirl entered the mobile shopping fray last year with an iPhone app allowing users to learn ...
Anyone remember United Virtualities introducing the "rewritable cookie" back in 2003/4? That used Flash based cookies to rewrite HTTP cookies.