Star Tribune Must Face Suit Over Alleged Facebook Data Sharing

Star Tribune Media Co. will have to defend a lawsuit alleging it shared a subscriber’s personal video viewing data with Facebook without his consent, violating the Video Privacy Protection Act.

Kyle Feldman alleged that Star Tribune’s website used the Facebook Pixel analytics tool to track his video-viewing history and knowingly shared personally identifiable information with Facebook.

The US District Court for the District of Minnesota denied Star Tribune’s motion to dismiss the complaint, finding that Feldman sufficiently alleged that he “suffered a concrete injury in fact traceable to the Star Tribune.”

The Star Tribune allegedly monetizes its website by sharing subscriber information with Facebook, according to the opinion by Judge Eric C. Tostrud. Feldman argued that the disclosure of his video-viewing history violates the VPPA, which prohibits “video tape service providers” from knowingly sharing with third parties the personally identifiable information of consumers without their consent.

Feldman hasn’t alleged any physical or economic injury, but claims there has been “intangible harm associated with the non-consensual sharing of his private information,” the court said. The disclosure “is an outrageous invasion of privacy and would be offensive to a reasonable person,” according to his complaint.

The question of whether Feldman consented to the disclosure of his personal information “seems like an affirmative defense that the Star Tribune bears the burden to plead and prove,” Tostrud said Tuesday.

The case is Feldman v. Star Tribune Media Co., D. Minn., No. 22-cv-1731, 3/7/23.