• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 25, 2024

A group of Prime Video users is fighting to proceed with claims that Amazon violated their privacy by allegedly disclosing information about their online video viewing with other Amazon-affiliated companies, and with outside businesses.

“Once consumers are in the Amazon system, Amazon amasses data profiles for consumers with little regard for protecting their privacy,” lawyers for the Prime Video customers argue in new court papers, adding that the company uses “misdirection, confusing language, and fine print to minimize how it and its affiliates violate consumers’ privacy.”

The new papers, filed Wednesday with U.S. District Court Judge James Robart in the Western District of Washington, come in a lawsuit brought in March by Prime Video viewers who alleged that the company wrongly shares data about their online video viewing. The class-action complaint, originally brought by Virginia resident Meredith Beagle and Louisiana resident Jordan Guerrero, was later joined by other Prime Video users.

They allege that Amazon violates laws in California and Washington as well as the federal Video Privacy Protection Act -- a 1988 measure that prohibits video rental companies from disclosing identifiable information about people's video-viewing history without their consent. Congress passed the law after a Washington, D.C. newspaper obtained Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork's video rental history from a local store. 

Among other allegations in the complaint, the plaintiffs said Amazon.com provided its parent company, Amazon Inc., with access to data such as titles of videos watched, billing addresses and location data.

Amazon recently urged Robart to dismiss the case at an early stage. Among other arguments, Amazon said allegations that it allowed access to data, even if proven true, wouldn't show that Amazon.com actually disclosed personally identifiable information.

Counsel for the consumers countered this week that the federal law effectively prohibits companies from making information about video-viewing available to outside parties, regardless of whether those outside companies actually see the information.

The Video Privacy Protection Act restricts “what a video provider can disclose,” and does not require people who sue over violations to show what recipients did with the information, counsel argues.

Amazon also argued that intra-corporate disclosures are permitted by the video privacy law.

The plaintiffs dispute that contention, arguing that the statute exempts disclosures made in the ordinary course of business -- meaning for purposes such as debt collection or order fulfillment -- but doesn't exempt all disclosures to affiliates.

Robart is expected to hold a hearing in the matter next month.