Paramount and Pluto TV Violated Privacy Laws by Tracking Children’s Viewing Habits

A group of parents recently filed a class action lawsuit against Paramount Skydance and Pluto, a subsidiary of Paramount, alleging that they wrongfully shared their children’s identifiable information with third-party advertisers. The plaintiffs filed this lawsuit in California federal court on Nov. 4 on behalf of their minor children.

The complaint highlights that Pluto TV, a streaming service operated by Paramount, collected and shared data concerning the specific videos children viewed on its platform with advertising giants like Google and Microsoft without parental authorization. This action allegedly violates the Video Privacy Protection Act and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, intended to safeguard individuals’ video watching data and minors’ online privacy, respectively.

The court filing suggests that Pluto TV provides a wide range of child-friendly content through its platform that kids can access using web browsers or mobile apps. To utilize the app, platform users must create a Pluto TV account as per the plaintiffs.

According to the lawsuit, Paramount and Pluto enhanced their website with tracking tools to gather private data on children, subsequently shared with Google and Microsoft for the creation of advertising profiles on minors. The plaintiffs contend that neither the children nor their parents were notified of or consented to this sharing of data.

The lawsuit argues that children and their families suffered due to the defendants’ practices, including violation of privacy, emotional distress, and distrust of online service providers. Seeking to represent a nationwide cohort of children who watched Pluto TV videos and had their personal data shared with these unauthorized entities, the plaintiffs demand statutory damages, injunctive relief, and reimbursement for the alleged violations.

The lawsuit contends that Paramount and Pluto prioritized marketing over respect for consumer privacy, thus leading to unauthorized data sharing and privacy breach concerns. The aim is to hold these entities accountable for breaching federal and state privacy laws and deter any further unauthorized data sharing incidents.

Earlier this year, Paramount encountered a class action lawsuit for supposedly disclosing viewers’ data to external parties without their explicit consent. Though the company moved to dismiss the case in New York federal court by arguing that the plaintiff approved the disclosures contested, it reignites discussions surrounding data privacy concerns.

This Pluto TV class action lawsuit, Diaz, et al. v. Paramount Skydance Corp., et al., Case No. 5:25-cv-02945, is currently being represented by Daniel Srourian of Srourian Law Firm P.C., along with Tyler J. Bean and Sonjay C. Singh of Siri & Glimstad LLP. Your comments on these allegations are welcome in the section below.