Seattle Law Firm Soliciting Clients for Possible Class Action Against Vizio Viewer-Tracking Feature

Keller Rohrback is soliciting clients for a possible class-action complaint against the “smart interactivity” viewer-tracking feature of Vizio’s smart TVs, the Seattle law firm said in a Friday announcement. The feature tracks user information such as programs viewed and when they were watched, it said. “Once this data has been shared, advertisers can use this knowledge to target other devices through your IP address.” The feature may affect consumers who bought Vizio smart TVs as early as 2009, and on newer sets, the feature “is turned on by default at purchase and will reactivate if the Smart TV is ever reset to factory settings,” it said. “Laws such as the Video Privacy Protection Act and cable subscriber protections limit how companies can share information about the viewing habits of their customers.” The announcement asks consumers to contact the firm if they own a Vizio smart TV and “would like to know more about your rights.” Representatives of the firm didn’t comment. The firm was lead counsel for current and former Sony Pictures employees who sued the company over its 2014 data breach in a class action that’s now awaiting a final settlement (see 1506230061). Vizio representatives didn’t comment Monday. More than a dozen complaints have been filed since November over the viewer-tracking feature on Vizio smart TVs. Though Vizio has yet to mount a defense in any of the cases filed, one of the earliest complaints appears headed for private mediation (see 1601220033).