Etsy Hit With Class Action Over Alleged Use of Pixel Trackers

Etsy Inc. was hit with a proposed class action alleging the company allowed third parties to collect personal information from the platform’s users through the use of pixel trackers.

Austin White alleged the company, which offers goods and services to consumers via its website, violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act and other state law by using the pixel trackers operated by third parties like Google, Meta, and Microsoft. He filed the suit July 3 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The suit joins a raft of other proposed class actions over use of the trackers filed against companies including Meta, Truist, and BMO.

The plaintiffs didn’t “consent to the installation, execution, embedding or injection” of the trackers and didn’t “expect their behavioral data to be disclosed or monetized in this way,” the suit said.

The trackers transmit data including page views, session duration, IP addresses, and browser and device details to third party servers, the suit said. These trackers, which appear as a small image of JavaScript snippet on webpages are activated when a webpage is loaded, or a user performs a tracked action.

White alleges the pixel trackers violate CIPA because the trackers are trap-and-trace devices prohibited without consent or a court order.

The plaintiff seeks to represent all individuals in California whose browsers had trackers installed or otherwise affected Etsy’s website. White seeks statutory damages, an injunction prohibiting the conduct alleged in the complaint, and attorneys’ fees and costs.

Etsy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

White is represented by Nathan & Associates APC and Ross Cornell of Big Bear Lake, Calif.

The case is White v. Esty Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 4:25-cv-05644, complaint filed 7/3/25.