Wiretapping Suit Alleges IBM Unlawfully Used Oracle Pixel to Track Weather.com Visitors

IBM unlawfully procured the wiretapping of electronic communications of visitors to Weather.com through an arrangement with Oracle, alleged a class action Tuesday (docket 7:23-cv-05203) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan. Through its BlueKai Pixel, Oracle, as procured by IBM, IBM “secretly observed, recorded, and otherwise intercepted website visitors’ electronic communications” with IBM and “used that data to improve its own marketing and analytical capabilities,” it said. The suit, which alleges violations of the Maryland Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, names IBM as the defendant, but not Oracle. The complaint said Oracle maintains a “symbiotic relationship” with its clients. Oracle doesn’t simply manage its clients’ data but also “retains and uses the same data to assist other clients,” it said: “With each piece of data Oracle collects, the BlueKai profiling software becomes even more useful.” IBM didn’t comment.