IGN Entertainment Shares Website Users' Video Viewing Data via Piano's API: Suit

IGN Entertainment integrates at least one application programming interface (API) that lets companies open their application data and functionality to external third-party developers and business partners, alleged a Video Privacy Protection Act class action Tuesday (docket 1:24-cv-11579) in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts in Boston.

Users visiting the entertainment company's website can view an assortment of prerecorded videos, including original shows, trailers and gameplay videos, the complaint said. Josue Joseph of Brockton, Massachusetts, created a free account on the IGN website in 2014, said the complaint. Since then, he has watched numerous prerecorded videos while signed into his account, mostly recently in September, it said. As a condition of signing up for an account, the plaintiff was required to provide IGN with his email address, alleged the complaint.

A dynamic analysis of IGN’s website early this year by Joseph’s counsel determined that IGN integrates the Piano API, either as part of a software development kit (SDK) or as a stand-alone API, to process data transfer between systems, alleged the complaint. Piano is a “revenue solutions” company that provides metered paywalls, analytics, personalization and monetization; it bills its platform as one that “empowers organizations to understand and influence customer behavior.” Piano's customers, including IGN, use its services to analyze user data and provide targeted ads, the complaint said.

Joseph never consented, agreed or otherwise permitted IGN to disclose his personally identifiable information (PII) to third parties, but each time he viewed a prerecorded video on the website, IGN disclosed his PII and video viewing information to Piano via the API, the complaint said. When users create an account on its website, IGN discloses their email address in an encrypted format that can be easily decrypted by anyone with internet access using a free online resource, the complaint alleged.

IGN also discloses to Piano through the API the full title of a video a user watches along with its URL and whether the video was actually viewed, said the complaint. That information, combined with email address and user ID, allows the defendant to target different users with marketing and advertising strategies, “thereby increasing its user base,” the complaint alleged.

Piano was able to identify Joseph and attribute his video viewing records to an individualized profile, alleged the complaint. “Even an ordinary person could identify” Joseph using the data the defendant disclosed to the data analytics company, it said. Piano compiled the plaintiff’s PII and activity on the IGN website, including video-viewing information, which it “continues to use for marketing, advertising, and analytics purposes,” it said.

Joseph seeks statutory and punitive damages, plus pre-judgment interest, injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees and costs. IGN didn’t comment Thursday.