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Mailing Lists Class Action Lawsuit Overview :
- Who: Magazine subscribers lodged more than two dozen class action lawsuits against major publishers.
- Why: The subscribers say their personal information was sold to “aggressive” advertisers in violation of Michigan state law prohibiting the distribution of mailing lists.
- Where: The class action lawsuits were filed in Michigan federal court.
Subscribers to Forbes, Newsweek, The Economist, and dozens of other popular magazines accuse the publishers of selling mailing lists to “aggressive advertisers, political organizations, and non-profit companies,” resulting in a “barrage of unwanted junk mail,” in more than two dozen lawsuits filed in Michigan federal court last week.
The flurry of class action lawsuits contend that the sale of subscriber information violates Michigan privacy laws. The plaintiffs, all Michigan residents, want the publishers, including PGA Magazine, Ogden Communications, Harvard Business Publishing, and a host of others to stop selling their mailing lists. The plaintiffs are also looking to enforce a hefty fine of up to $5,000 per Michigan subscriber.
The plaintiffs say each publisher “rents, exchanges, or otherwise discloses its customers’ information—including their full names, titles of publications subscribed to, and home addresses…as well as myriad other categories of individualized data and demographic information such as age, gender, and income—to data aggregators, data appenders, data cooperatives, and other third parties without the written consent of its customers.”
In addition to unwanted junk mail, the plaintiffs say that the sale of mailing lists put vulnerable members of society in danger.
“[A]nyone could buy a customer list provided by CNET that contains the names and addresses of all women in Michigan over the age of 60 with an annual income of greater than $80,000 who subscribe to CNET magazine,” points out one class action lawsuit that was filed Friday.
Publishers ‘Profit Handsomely’ From Illegal Sale of Mailing Lists
The class action lawsuits, all filed by the same attorney, claim that the publishers profit at the expense of their subscribers — and the law.
The subscribers accuse the publishers of violating their statutory privacy rights under Michigan’s Preservation of Personal Privacy Act (PPPA).
The PPPA was enacted in 1988 to shield certain types of consumer information, including consumers’ choices in reading and audiovisual materials. Protecting consumer information is even more important in the face of an entire $26 billion data aggregation industry that exists today, claims the class action lawsuit.
“Data aggregation is especially troublesome when consumer information is sold to direct-mail advertisers. In addition to causing waste and inconvenience, direct-mail advertisers often use consumer information to lure unsuspecting consumers into various scams,11 including fraudulent sweepstakes, charities, and buying clubs,” say the class action lawsuits.
Indeed, the deluge of lawsuits want to represent potentially hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents who subscribed to a number of major publications, including Forbes, CNET, Golf Magazine Mother Earth News, The Progressive Farmer, Guideposts, and others.
Other major publishers have found themselves in legal hot water after selling mailing lists that included the personal information of Michigan residents. Last February, Playboy agreed to pay $3.8 million to end a class action lawsuit lodged by Michigan subscribers who claimed the publisher illegally sold their private information.
In 2018, Condé Nast paid $13.75 million to settle similar claims with Michigan residents.
Have you subscribed to a magazine that sold your information in a mailing list? Tell us what happened in the comment section below.
The plaintiffs in all of the class action lawsuits are represented by Philip L. Fraietta of Bursor & Fisher, PA.
Some of the Mailing Lists Class Action Lawsuits are Pratt et al v. Outdoor Sportsman Group, Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-11404; Ouellette v. Entrepreneur Media, Inc., Case No. 1:21-cv-11799; Taylor v. Guideposts A Church Corporation, Case No. 2:21-cv-11791; Raymond v. Ogden Publications Inc., Caes No. 4:21-cv-11793; Eberhardt v. Newsweek LLC, Case No. 2:21-cv-11797; and, Bebber v. CNET Media, Inc., Case No. 2:21-cv-11824, all in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
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158 thoughts onMailing Lists Illegally Sold by Dozens of Publishers, Say Class Actions Lodged Against Forbes, Newsweek, Others
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Please add me I get magazine I never order they come from everywhere magazine I don’t even look at
Oh my goodness, I got additional magazines I never orderd, along with junk mail advertisments , flyers, you name it they came my way.
Please ad me