Lowe's, Salesforce Spy on Consumers When They Open Marketing Emails: Class Action

Lowe’s embedded spy tracking pixels in marketing emails to Arizona residents to monitor the behavior of those who subscribed to its email list, alleged a privacy class action (docket 2:24-cv-01030) against the home improvement retailer and Salesforce Sunday in U.S. District Court for Arizona.

The “hidden” embedded tracking pixel provided by Salesforce collects, obtains and tracks the time and place where Maricopa County resident Martin Dominguez and class members opened marketing emails, the average read time, number of times the email was opened, whether it was printed and forwarded, the IP address of device used to look at the email and “where you clicked within an email,” said the complaint. It also captures the geographical location of the recipient, the complaint said.

Salesforce obtains, stores and uses the “collected data and communication service records to paint a uniquely identifiable detailed picture” of Dominguez and other Arizona residents’ interests to create targeted advertising campaigns for Lowe’s, alleged the complaint.

The Arizona Telephone, Utility and Communication Service Records Act prohibits a person from “knowingly obtaining a 'communication service record’ of any Arizona resident” without authorization or by fraudulent, deceptive or false means, said the complaint. The defendants never received the plaintiffs’ consent before they collected, obtained, stored or used the information and communication service records, it said.

Spy pixels, such as the Salesforce tracker, are typically one square pixel in size, “deliberately made small and impossible to spot with the naked eye even if a person knows where to look,” the complaint alleged. Tracking pixels are designed to blend in with the background of an email, it said.

Salesforce’s database generates data for leads, tasks, opportunities and accounts, the complaint said. The customer relationship management software company links the collected information about consumers with additional data about them that it possesses or buys from third parties and third-party data brokers, it said. It also makes the information available to Lowe’s for export or download, it said.

Dominguez and class members never provided consent to Lowe’s or Salesforce to use tracking pixels, said the complaint. Class members include all individuals in Arizona who opened a marketing email containing a tracking pixel from the defendants during the two years before the complaint was filed, said the document.

Dominguez and class members seek actual damages or damages of $1,000 for each violation of the Arizona law, injunctive relief requiring the defendants to comply with the law, and orders awarding attorneys’ fees and legal costs, plus pre- and post-judgment interest.