• by Wendy Davis , 4 hours ago

Two Audible users will ask a federal appellate court to restore their claims that the company violated California laws by allegedly sharing information about their audiobook browsing and listening with Meta Platforms, via its analytics pixel.

U.S. District Court Judge Kymberly Evanson in Seattle dismissed the case earlier this month, ruling that the users -- California residents Gloria Crowell and Kevin Smith -- couldn't proceed with claims rooted in California law because Audible's terms of service provided that Washington state laws would govern any disputes.

OnThursday, Crowell and Smith appealed that ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. They haven't yet made substantive legal arguments to that court.

The move comes in a dispute dating to December 2024, when Crowell and Smith alleged in a class-action complaint that Audible violated California's wiretap law as well as the state's constitution, which enshrines a right to privacy.

Audible "intercepts and discloses to Facebook individual users’ personally identifiable information in the form of their Facebook account and the full title of the materials that individuals search for, listen to, and purchase on the Audible service," the complaint alleged.

Crowell and Smith added that Facebook can draw on the alleged disclosures to assist Audible with its marketing and ad-targeting efforts.

Amazon asked Evanson to dismiss the case at an early stage, arguing that Crowell and Smith agreed to apply Washington law to any disputes when they signed into Audible and enrolled in its plans.

Crowell and Smith unsuccessfully countered that the formatting of Audible's pages cut against its argument. For instance, they argued, the "conditions of use" link on Smith's enrollment page was "at least nine lines" removed from the sign-up button.

The 9th Circuit hasn't yet said when it will hear the case.