Summary
- Ubisoft is facing a class action lawsuit over alleged privacy violations.
- The complaint alleges that the company unlawfully collected and shared customer data with Facebook owner Meta Platforms.
- The lawsuit also claims that this act constituted a violation of state and federal wiretapping laws.
Ubisoft has been targeted by a class action lawsuit revolving around unauthorized data sharing practices. The complaint alleges that Ubisoft shared personally identifiable information with Meta Platforms in violation of several U.S. Laws.
Public awareness of data privacy concerns has increased in recent years. Like the rest of the wider tech sector, game developers and publishers are nowadays consistently finding themselves scrutinized over their user data policies.
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Lawsuit Alleges Ubisoft Unlawfully Collected and Shared User Data
In yet another testament to this trend, Ubisoft has recently found itself on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit centered on its data sharing practices. The complaint—Lakes et al. V. Ubisoft, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California—alleges that the company unlawfully collected and shared personally identifiable customer information with Facebook owner Meta Platforms. The plaintiffs who initiated the lawsuit claim that this was done using Pixel, Meta's analytics tool for tracking the effectiveness of ad campaigns. By feeding customer data collected through its website to Pixel, Ubisoft shared it with Meta's wider advertising network without the explicit consent from the people to whom the information belongs, the complaint reads.
Ubisoft Accused of Violating Wiretapping Laws
According to an October 3 court filing reviewed by The Best War Games, the lawsuit also alleges that Ubisoft's Pixel usage resulted in violations of state and federal wiretapping laws, including the Video Privacy Protection Act and Wiretap Act. Specifically, the plaintiffs argue that the knowing sharing of their personally identifiable information with Meta Platforms constitutes unauthorized interception of electronic communications, which is explicitly forbidden under the aforementioned legislation. This legal argument is similar to the one used for the 2021 wiretapping lawsuit against Intel, which has yet to be resolved.
The Defendant does not disclose on the Website that users’ personally identifying information (“PII”) would be captured by the Meta Platforms, Inc. (“Meta” or “Facebook”) tracking Pixel (the “Pixel”) utilized by Defendant, and then transferred to Meta, thereby exposing the subscribers’ PII to any person of ordinary technical skill who received that data.
According to the complaint, any U.S. Citizen who ever purchased a game directly from Ubisoft or paid for a Ubisoft+ membership since the company started using Pixel had their data unlawfully shared with Meta. The class action seeks monetary damages and injunctive relief. Regarding the latter, the plaintiffs proposed that Ubisoft should be ordered to stop using Pixel on its website, or start obtaining explicit consent to share customer data with Meta. The litigation also demands additional remedies meant to ensure Ubisoft is prevented from repeating these alleged privacy violations in the future.
The timeline for cases of this nature normally involves up to three months' of initial filings and responses, 6–12 months of discovery, up to half a year's worth of hearings, and 3–6 months of trial preparation and trial. That's without taking the competent court's workload into account, which could lead to significant gaps between these phases. Ubisoft's attorneys will likely first want to see if there's any basis to have the complaint thrown out or relegated to a regular lawsuit rather than a class action one, potentially even pushing for arbitration. The case itself adds to Ubisoft's recent string of struggles, which largely stem from some underperforming game releases.
- Date Founded
- March 28, 1986
- Headquarters
- Saint Mandé, France
- CEO
- Yves Guillemot
- Subsidiaries
- Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft San Francisco
- Known For
- Rainbow Six, Prince of Persia, Far Cry, The Crew
Ubisoft is a well-known video game developer and publisher with a main headquarters in Saint-Mandé, France. Current CEO Yves Guillemot runs an array of teams responsible for some of the most iconic and well-known series in video games, with franchises like Assassin's Creed, Farcry, The Crew, Just Dance, and more. Ubisoft also acts as a parent company for an array of other video game developers, including names like Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Paris, Blue Mammoth Games, Red Storm Entertainment, and more.
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