Local Now Weather App, Website Allegedly Disclose Viewers' PII for Commercial Gain

Weather Group Television discloses consumers’ personally identifiable information (PII) to third parties, alleged a Video Privacy Protection Act class action Tuesday (docket 1:24-cv-11349) in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts.

Based on a “dynamic analysis” conducted by a private research company he retained, plaintiff Matthew Marden learned that Weather Group incorporates “multiple ‘application programming interfaces (APIs)’” into its Local Now website and app that disclose to cloud communications platform Twilio a user’s email address, location information, user ID and the title and URL of a video he’s watching, including that he viewed a video, said the complaint.

In November, Marden created a Local Now account on the website and later watched various videos via his account, said the complaint. Most recently, he watched a video on the website in December, it said. The Marlborough, Massachusetts, resident was required to provide his email address during the signup process, along with his first and last name, it said. He never consented to disclosure of his PII, and Local Now didn’t give him an opportunity to prevent disclosure of it to third parties, the complaint said.

When a consumer watches prerecorded videos on Weather Group’s free Local Now streaming service, the defendant discloses to Twilio, via its Segment API, a user’s city location for iOS users and geolocation “with nine decimal places of accuracy,” for website and Android app users, the complaint said. This means that Weather Group is “disclosing a user’s location within less than forty feet,” it said.

The Weather Group sends its users’ email addresses, location and video viewing information to Twilio via the Segment API so that it can analyze user data, launch marketing campaigns, and target specific users or specific groups of users for advertisements, the complaint alleged. Used in conjunction with Segment’s marketing and advertising services, Weather Group monetizes Local Now and earns revenue through such activities, especially in conjunction with Segment’s marketing and advertising services, “by collecting and disclosing as much PII as possible,” it said.

As a result of the Segment API tracking Marden’s viewing behavior, Twilio was able to identity him “and attribute his video viewing records to an individualized profile” in such a way that “even an ordinary person" could identify the plaintiff using the data Weather Group disclosed to Twilio, the complaint alleged. The defendant compiled Marden’s PII and activity on the Local Now website that it continues to use for marketing, advertising, and analytics, it said.

Local Now’s transmissions of Marden's and class members’ PII to Twilio via the Segment API constitute knowing disclosures of their PII “to a person as proscribed by the VPPA,” alleged the complaint. The disclosures weren’t made in the “ordinary course of business” as defined by the VPPA and weren’t necessary for debt collection, order fulfillment, request processing or transfer of ownership,” it said.

Marden seeks statutory and punitive damages, prejudgment interest and attorneys’ fees and legal expenses. The Weather Group didn't comment Wednesday.