SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Twitter is accused of peddling its users phone numbers and email addresses to advertisers in violation of the law.
Plaintiff Lauren Price filed a proposed class action lawsuit May 31 in California federal court, nine days after Twitter reached a settlement of those allegations with the Federal Trade Commission worth $150 million. She is represented by Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group.
Though the phone numbers and email addresses were collected "under the guise" they would be used for security-related reasons, Twitter instead used them to allow advertisers to target specific groups of users, the suit says.
"Twitter's relationship with its users is governed by the Twitter Terms of Service and the Twitter Privacy Policy," the suit says. "The Twitter Privacy Policy repeatedly promises Plaintiff and Class members that Twitter respects their information and discloses such information only with users' consent."
The suit makes claims for breach of contract, breach of implied contract, violation of California laws and unjust enrichment.
"Defendant breached the implied contracts it made with Plaintiff and the Class by utilizing and profiting from their personal information via the marketing and advertising purposes the information was put to," the suit says.