A class action was filed on behalf of Illinois residents whose identities are used without consent by an online database that allows people to pay for monthly subscriptions in exchange for access to individuals’ information, such as location and possible relatives.
Teresa Hutchens filed the complaint individually and on behalf of a proposed class on Nov. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Information Data Resources LLC, alleging violation of the Illinois Right of Publicity Act (IRPA). The class action was filed through attorney Benjamin Thomassen of Edelson PC in Chicago.
Hutchens filed her claims on behalf of a class of “all Illinois residents whose identities were displayed on the marketing page and two have never purchased any products or services on publicinfoservices.com.”
According to the complaint, Information Data Resources owns and operates the website Publicinfoservices.com, which “sells access to a database containing proprietary information about people to anybody willing to pay defendant for a monthly subscription.”
The suit states that Information Data Resources gathers information for its database from national, state and municipal databases.
The defendant markets its service by encouraging prospective customers to search for individuals on its website for free. When a first and last name is typed into the search bar, the website displays a preview page featuring the individual’s full name along with certain uniquely identifying information, including aliases, location, possible relatives and age. The free preview shows potential customers that the database contains the specific individual they are searching for and that a paid subscription would provide more information about the individual.
The free preview also offers the potential customer the opportunity to purchase a paid subscription, allowing them access to anyone in the database. A “special trial offer” of $2 for seven days of full access to the database is offered, and then a customer can be automatically enrolled in the defendant’s $29.94 monthly subscription plan.
“In other words, defendant does not offer to sell information about the individuals searched on its website, but rather, uses their identities to sell subscriptions to its paid service,” Thomassen wrote.
“Unsurprisingly, the people appearing in these advertisements never provided defendant with their consent (written or otherwise) to use their identities for any reason, let alone for marketing purposes,” he added.
The suit states the plaintiff and class members have no relationship with Publicinfoservices.
Hutchens argues that using the identities of Illinois residents for its own commercial gain and without consent, the defendant is violating IRPA. IRPA gives individuals the “right to control and choose whether and how [his or her] identity [is used] for commercial purposes.”
“The Act protects individuals from the unauthorized use of any of their attributes, including but not limited to, their names, signatures, photographs, images, likenesses, or voices in the sale or advertisement of goods, merchandise, products, and services,” Thomassen wrote.
According to the complaint, Hutchens discovered the defendant was using her identity to solicit paid subscriptions in 2021. Specifically, Publicinfoservices identified her full name, age and location on its marking page.
“Plaintiff Teresa Hutchens is not and has never been a Publicinfoservices customer,” she suit states. “She has no relationship with Publicinfoservices whatsoever.”
Hutchens seeks injunctive relief requiring the defendant to cease using Illinois residents’ identities for commercial purposes, including on its marketing page, an award for actual damages, profits derived from the unauthorized use of Illinois’ residents’ names and identities, or statutory damages of $1,000 per violation to the class members, punitive damages, court costs and attorney’s fees.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 3:21-cv-1487