Crocs and Adidas have been named in two separate class action lawsuits alleging that both brands violated consumer privacy laws.
Both lawsuits, filed in late November by the same lawyer with two different lead plaintiffs, accuse the brands of violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act, which prohibits people and businesses from wiretapping or confidentially recording conversations without the consent of all parties.
The suit against Crocs alleges that the clog maker “secretly wiretaps the private conversations of everyone who communicates through the chat feature” on its website and that it allows a third party to listen into these conversation in real-time without consumer consent to “harvest data for financial gain.” The suit say it believes the third party listener is either SalesForce or software platform Kayako — or both.
The suit against Adidas also accuses the brand of illegally wiretapping visitors’ conversations, communications and mouse clicks on its website and sharing the data with its third party technology partners.
“Defendants actions amount to the digital equivalent of looking over consumers’ shoulders, reading consumers’ journals and eavesdropping on their conversations,” the suit against Adidas alleges. “Defendant’s conduct is not only illegal, it is offensive.”
FN has reached out to Crocs for comment. Adidas declined to comment.
For Adidas, this suit marks yet another legal spat for the sportswear company. Just last week, Adidas was named in a class action lawsuit over its promotion of digital currencies and NFTs from Yuga Labs, including its flagship NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). Paris Hilton, Stephen Curry and Serena Williams and other celebrities were also named in the suit.
Crocs is also no stranger to legal disputes and has settled trademark infringement suits with copycat brands in the past.
