McDonald’s, CBS, Mazda and Microsoft use their Internet ads as a cover for data-mining, to identify the websites people visit, invading people’s privacy, misappropriating their personal information and interfering with the operations of their computers, a class action claims in Federal Court. “Defendants acted in concert with [nonparty] Interclick, mining consumers’ web browser histories for entries of particular relevance to defendants’ respective, customized advertising campaigns,” the complaint states.
Lead plaintiff Sonal Bose, of New York, N.Y., included Does 1-50 as defendants.
She claims McDonald’s committed its offenses, including violations of computer privacy laws, through its online World Cup-theme game in the summer of 2010.
CBS did it in an online ad campaign for its “online fantasy sports platform” before the 2010 Major League Baseball season began; Mazda did it in ads for its summer sales and 2010 models, and Microsoft did it during a 7-month ad campaign for its Windows Smartphone, according to the complaint.
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