AOL Faces Lawsuit for Stalking Consumers

Sites include AOL.com . Published on July 3rd, 2011. Written by Debbie Parker.

A federal class action lawsuit was filed against AOL to ask the internet company from invading people’s privacy. The suit claimed that AOL tracks people’s web browsing and sells the data to third-party advertisers. Also accused are ScanScout and Brightcove.

The lawsuit was filed in U. S. District Court in Boston by Sandra Person Burns of Hinds County, Mississippi. She claimed that internet users don’t want web sites and companies to track every move they made in the internet.

Tracking companies would observe where consumers click on a web site or in a commercial email message. They track from the time the consumers see an ad until the product is purchased days after. There is a large market for consumer information, which is lucrative for tracking companies.

These companies sell consumer profiles to third party advertisers. Burns said that she tried evading the trackers by turning off her browsers abilities to store cookies but she was surprised to find that she would still receive ads for services and products based on her online profile.

Burns said that the defendants succeeded in using the Adobe Flash software on her computer to track her without her knowledge. The lawsuit claimed that the companies violated the Wiretapping Act, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Massachusetts Privacy Act, Federal Video Privacy Protection Act, and the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.