A class action lawsuit against Zillow for allegedly disclosing personally identifiable information — including names and emails — and prerecorded video viewing activity to the parent companies of Facebook and Google, Meta and Alphabet, has been dismissed.
On Sept. 10, Zillow and the plaintiff, San Diego County resident Guillermo Mata, filed a joint motion and stipulation to dismiss without prejudice, leaving the door open for Mata to refile the suit at a later time. Both parties have agreed to cover their own legal fees and costs.
Mata filed the lawsuit in June 2024, claiming that Zillow and Redfin used tracking technology to send consumers’ personal information and website activities to an array of companies, including Reddit, Inc.; Meta Platforms, Inc. (‘Meta’); Microsoft Corporation; Alphabet, Inc.; Snap, Inc. (Snapchat) and Oracle Corp.
The plaintiff said the portals were aware of the risks of using third-party tracking pixel technology for its guided video tours, and cited Redfin’s February 2024 public filing in which the portal acknowledged the increasing number of lawsuits against companies utilizing the technology.
“Defendant knew that such tracking technology would transmit site visitors’ activity, including records of which video tours they have watched, as the entire purpose of implementing such technology is so that Defendant can target advertisements or send marketing emails through the technology’s third-party providers,” the complaint said, according to a previous Inman article.
Mata sought class-action status for both lawsuits for all U.S. consumers and all California consumers who viewed a guided video tour on or through Zillow or Redfin.
The damages, he said, should include banning both portals from “further unauthorized disclosure of consumers’ [data],” punitive damages, statutory damages of no less than $2,500 for each Video Privacy Protection Act violation and $5,000 for each California Invasion of Privacy Act violation, and attorney’s fees and costs.
The lawsuit against Redfin ended first, as Mata filed a voluntary motion to dismiss with prejudice in February, permanently closing the door on any further wiretapping claims against the portal.
Zillow was not available for comment.
