The National Football League was sued for allegedly sharing digital subscribers' personal data with Meta Platforms Inc., which became the latest target of consumers who claim companies pass on private information to the social media site without their consent.
Israel James of Illinois filed a class action lawsuit against the league in Chicago federal court on Wednesday.
Over the last 10 years, the world's largest social network has been sued and investigated by regulators over privacy issues, most often over allegations that the company illegally collects information on users that it uses for targeted advertising.
James claims in his lawsuit that the National Football League installed a computer code on its website that could be used to track digital subscribers entering and exiting the website. The digital subscribers' Facebook ID is tracked and disclosed by NFL.com.
James said in the complaint that this happens even if the subscriber doesn't share the information.
The complaint states that the social media company can easily find and view the subscriber's Facebook profile.
An email was sent to the league, but it was not immediately responded to.
James wants $2,500 in compensation for each person in the class.
Similar suits have been filed against Warner Bros. and Huffington Post. Two proposed class-action lawsuits claim that Meta harvests patients' private medical data from health-care provider websites and shares it with Facebook.
James said in the complaint that the football league is in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act by exposing its digital subscribers identities and files to Facebook.
James said in the complaint that the defendants made a lot of money from the unauthorized disclosure of its digital subscribers' personal viewing information to Facebook. At the expense of its digital subscribers, it does so.
The case is in the northern district of Illinois.
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