Lawsuits Accuse Zillow and Redfin of Sending Video User Data to Third Parties

June 28, 2024

U.S. real estate portal operators Zillow and Redfin are facing lawsuits for allegedly violating privacy laws by sharing user data with companies like Facebook and Google.

Guillermo Mata, a San Diego resident, filed the suits on June 25th, claiming the companies disclosed personal information, such as names and emails, without consent.

Mata's complaints state, "Defendant uses third-party code to track prerecorded videos its subscribers watch and sends that data to its third-party code vendors along with subscribers’ [personal information], all without its subscribers’ valid consent." The suits allege this tracking is for advertising purposes and profit.

Zillow and Redfin allegedly shared user activity data with companies including Reddit, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Snapchat, and Oracle. The complaint refers to a recent Redfin filing that acknowledges potential liability from using pixel technology, highlighting ongoing legal uncertainty and the risk of expensive litigation.

The lawsuits seek to ban further unauthorized data disclosure and demand damages of at least $2,500 per violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act and $5,000 per violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, along with attorney’s fees.

A Zillow statement responding to the accusations read: “We are aware of the lawsuit filed. While we don’t discuss ongoing litigation, we intend to respond accordingly.”

The suit is another headache for Zillow as the company learned this week that it could be back in court to defend itself in the so-called "no-commingling" case against defunct discount brokerage REX.

 

June 28, 2024
Since March 2020 Edmund's job has been to read about, write about, collect data on, analyse and generally know about real estate marketplaces and the companies that run them. Before that he worked at the aggregator Mitula Group (which became Lifull Connect) for five years.

Subscribe to our mailing list to get the famous, free Friday newsletter!

News and analysis to help build better online marketplace businesses, in your inbox, every Friday

Related News

People Roundup 28Mar
People Roundup: Aviv Group, Pisos.com, Kleinanzeigen, REA India, Anjuke

There have been several high profile C-suite moves in this week's People Roundup. We'll start in Europe...   Europe: Aviv...

Read More
Product Update 2025Mar28 1
Product and Services Roundup: Zoopla, ViewIt

This week's Product Roundup starts in the UK, where it's all about Zoopla...   UK: Zoopla's MyHome product is used...

Read More
Ten Questions With Hiizzy 2
Ten Questions with Allan Wood and Lewis Buckley, Co-Founders at Hiizzy

"In the UK, a £500,000 sale at 1% is a commission of £5,000. With Hiizzy, you will not pay more...

Read More
Nar 1 3
NAR Amends Clear Cooperation Policy After Months of Speculation

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has amended the terms of its Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) after months of speculation...

Read More

Editor's Pick