Website for Law Students Tracks Their Viewing History, Alleges VPPA Complaint

Quimbee, a website tailored to law students, violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by knowingly disclosing personally identifiable information of plaintiff Isaac Shapiro and his class members, including a record of case brief videos they watched on the website, without their consent, alleged Shapiro’s Jan. 4 class action (docket 4:24-cv-00079) against Quimbee’s parent company, Sellers International, in U.S. District Court for Northern California in Oakland. Quimbee installed the HubSpot tracking code on its website, which tracks and records visitors’ private video consumption, said the complaint. “Behind the scenes” of the webpages that display the case briefs, and “unbeknownst” to video viewers, this code collects visitors’ video-watching history and discloses it to HubSpot, it said. HubSpot is a customer relations management platform, “which offers its users the power to automate marketing, lead generation, and sales engagement tools,” said the complaint. Shapiro’s three-count complaint seeks an award of statutory damages “to the extent available,” plus punitive damages, “as warranted, in an amount to be determined at trial.”