Songkick.com users claim tracking despite cookie rejection

Filed 1mo ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Hidden Agenda

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

A proposed class action in Illinois accuses Songkick.com of continuing to track and sell user data after visitors explicitly rejected cookies, in violation of the Illinois Eavesdropping Act and the Federal Wiretap Act. Plaintiffs Zoe Barker and Charissa Baron say the site, used by more than 155 million fans and owned first by Warner Music Group and now by AI music generator Suno, recorded searches, IP addresses, and unique identifiers regardless of user choice.

The 43-page complaint alleges the tracking 'fired on every page, for every user,' funneling data to third parties including Yahoo, Amazon, and Google, and argues the practice let the company infer users' political and social interests from event searches. The suit seeks an injunction and deletion of the collected data, with the class covering all U.S. residents who rejected cookies since the Warner acquisition.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A company that builds a rejection button and then ignores every click on it isn't offering a choice, it's offering theater. The lawsuit's real innovation is treating that theater as wiretapping rather than an inconvenience users are expected to shrug off. Whether a judge agrees, the underlying business model — ask permission, proceed regardless — deserves the skepticism.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Hidden Agenda · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0