A class action lawsuit has been filed against Patagonia, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. The plaintiff, Heather Knight, alleges that the outdoor clothing retailer violated Arizona’s Telephone, Utility and Communication Service Records Act by embedding “spy pixels” in marketing emails sent to customers.
According to the complaint, these tracking pixels allow Patagonia to collect sensitive information about email recipients without their consent. This includes data on when and where emails are opened, how long they are read, whether they are forwarded, and details about the recipient’s device and location.
There are similar cases against Lowe’s, Home Depot, Gap, and other retailers.
The lawsuit claims this practice is an invasion of privacy and intrusion upon seclusion. It seeks to represent a class of all Arizona residents who have opened marketing emails from Patagonia containing these tracking pixels.
The complaint draws parallels to the 2006 Hewlett-Packard pretexting scandal, which led to the passage of federal and state laws addressing similar privacy concerns. While federal law focused on prohibiting pretexting to obtain phone records, the Arizona statute also covers “communication service records,” including email data.
The plaintiff alleges that Patagonia’s use of spy pixels violates this Arizona law by procuring communication service records without customer authorization. Each email containing a tracking pixel is claimed to constitute a separate violation.
The lawsuit seeks actual damages or $1,000 per violation, whichever is greater, as well as any profits Patagonia made from the alleged violations. It also requests injunctive relief to halt the practice and reasonable attorney’s fees.
This case highlights ongoing privacy concerns surrounding email tracking technologies widely used in digital marketing. It may have implications for other companies employing similar practices in Arizona and could potentially influence privacy legislation and corporate policies in other states.
In similar news, a federal court in California recently determined that software on a website — a TikTok tracking pixel, in the case of the suit in question — can violate California’s Trap and Trace Law, a component of the state’s Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). This precedent-setting decision came in response to a class action lawsuit against C2 Educational Systems Inc.
Read: California Federal Court Rules TikTok Pixel Violates Privacy Law
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