TikTok Defeats Lawsuit Over Pixel Tracking

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by non-TikTok users who claimed the company violated their privacy by tracking them at websites operated by Hulu, Etsy and other outside companies that allegedly embed TikTok's pixel.

The ruling, issued December 24 by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr. in the Central District of California, comes in a lawsuit brought in May 2023 by California resident Bernadine Griffith. She alleged that TikTok's pixel -- a tool publishers can install on their sites to collect ad-related data -- enables the company to compile information about web users, regardless of whether they have accounts with TikTok.

Blumenfeld's written opinion awarding summary judgment to TikTok is currently under seal.

Griffith, later joined by other plaintiffs, claimed that TikTok violated privacy laws by intercepting and collecting browsing and search data from various online services and sites -- including the streaming service Hulu, online marketplace Etsy, and retailer Build-a-Bear Workshop. The plaintiffs also alleged TikTok's technology allows it to collect information about users even when they attempt to block cookies set by third parties.

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TikTok urged Blumenfeld to dismiss the matter without holding a trial, arguing there was no evidence that any “sensitive or identifying information” was shared with either TikTok or outside advertisers.

“There is no genuine dispute that defendants did not invade Plaintiffs’ reasonable expectation of privacy in a manner that would be highly offensive to a reasonable person,” TikTok argued in a motion for summary judgment.

The company also said the web users consented to pixel tracking by creating accounts on Hulu, Etsy and other sites, arguing that those sites require account holders to accept privacy policies that say users' data might be shared with third parties.

The plaintiffs countered that decisions about the sensitivity of data are factual and require jury trials, and that none of the sites listed in the complaint specifically disclosed that they could share data with TikTok.

The web users added that the privacy policies at issue are “too ambiguous and generalized” to prove that people consented to tracking.

“For example, the privacy policies discuss third parties such as 'advertising partners' or 'analytics' providers,” class counsel argued. “However, Plaintiffs, or any reasonable user, would have no reason to believe that defendants would fall into one of these categories. TikTok presents itself as a social media or video sharing platform, not an advertising service or analytics platform.”

Blumenfeld hasn't yet said when he will publicly release his opinion dismissing the lawsuit.

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