Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, PRIVACY—E.D. Mich.: Consumer’s privacy claims against magazine publisher can proceed, (Sep 2, 2014)

By Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

A putative class action brought by a consumer against a magazine publishing company for improperly disclosing her personal information to third parties without her consent adequately stated a claim under Michigan’s Video Rental Privacy Act, the federal district court in Bay City, Michigan has decided (Kinder v. Meredith Corporation, August 26, 2014, Ludington, T.).

Deborah Kinder is a subscriber to four magazines published, owned, and operated by Meredith Corporation. Kinder brought a putative class action suit against Meredith, alleging violations of Michigan’s Video Rental Privacy Act (VRPA), among other claims. Kinder claimed that, after she subscribed to some of Meredith’s magazine publications, Meredith disclosed her personal reading information to third parties without her notice or consent. The information consisted of her name, address, title of magazines subscribed to, age, income, ethnicity, religion, and political affiliation. As a result of the disclosure, she has received unwanted commercial solicitations and advertisements. Meredith moved to dismiss the complaint.

Standing. The court determined that the consumer had standing to bring a claim under the VRPA. In rejecting Meredith’s argument that Kinder did not allege that she suffered actual damages, the court noted that the VRPA did not explicitly impose an actual injury requirement. Instead, the statute grants standing to plaintiffs who suffer a statutory violation. Kinder alleged four injuries: (1) irritation, aggravation, anxiety, and fear that her personal information would be obtained and misused by scammers; (2) deprivation of the “full value” of her “paid for” subscriptions; (3) violation of a common law right to privacy; and (4) violation of her statutory rights under the VRPA. Taking the allegations as true, they properly stated a violation of the VRPA, according to the court.

VRPA. Kinder also adequately stated a claim under the VRPA. Meredith’s contentions that magazines were not covered by the VRPA and Kinder did not sufficiently allege that she bought the magazines at retail were rejected. The VRPA prohibits a business selling at retail, renting, or lending books or other written materials from disclosing information that indicates the identity of the customer. According to the court, a reasonable interpretation of “other written material” includes magazines and its plain meaning is unambiguous. Although Kinder did not allege a specific method of subscription, she alleged that she purchased the magazines directly from Meredith. Since she did not purchase the subscriptions from any other entity, such as a third party, the plaintiff adequately alleged that she purchased her magazines at retail.

The case is No. 14-cv-11284.

Attorneys: Ari J. Scharg (Edelson PC) for Deborah Kinder. Arthur Thomas O'Reilly (Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP) for Meredith Corporation.

Companies: Meredith Corporation

Cases: Privacy MichiganNews