One of Earliest Vizio Viewer-Tracking Class-Action Complaints Headed to Private Mediation

One of the first in a line of about a dozen complaints filed since mid-November alleging Vizio’s smart TV viewer-tracking feature violates the Video Privacy Protection Act (see 1512060005) is headed for private mediation, court documents show. In a complaint (No. 3:15-cv-05217-LB) filed Nov. 13 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco that like all the others seeks class-action status, Los Angeles-area resident Palma Reed alleged the “smart interactivity” feature on Vizio smart TVs tracks the content viewers are consuming, links it with their IP addresses and sells that information to marketing companies and advertisers without anyone’s knowledge or consent. Reed and Vizio agreed to submit the case to a private mediator who is “to be determined,” but is “acceptable to all parties,” said a stipulation and proposed order signed Thursday by attorneys for both sides. They agreed to schedule the mediation session before the court holds a hearing “on any motion for class certification,” the document said. Vizio has sought to consolidate the various complaints, but hasn't yet mounted a defense in any of the cases.