HBO hit with class action lawsuit for allegedly sharing subscriber data with Facebook

According to Variety, a class action lawsuit has been filed by people who claim that they were given viewing history to Facebook without their permission. The suit claims that the social network was able to match viewing habits with their profiles because of the customer lists provided by HBO.

It is alleged that Facebook can combine the data because of the fact that HBO is a major Facebook advertiser. According to the lawsuit, the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act has been violated by HBO since it never received proper customer consent to do this.

Other sites also use cookies to deliver personalized ads. A standard privacy policy will not suffice according to the suit.

TikTok recently agreed to pay a $92 million settlement after being hit with similar claims. In 2015, a judge ruled that the data that was shared with Facebook was not shared with the intent of establishing an individual's viewing history. The law firm involved in the suit won a $50 million settlement with the company after accusing it of violating Michigan privacy laws by selling subscriber data.