Is Microsoft-owned Minecraft facing class action lawsuit over privacy violation?
A law firm has been opening a class action lawsuit against the company.
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Key notes
- Microsoft may have breached Minecraft users’ privacy by sharing data with Facebook via Meta Pixel.
- Users’ game purchases on Minecraft.net might have been connected to their Facebook profiles, raising privacy concerns.
- Join the effort against these violations for a chance to claim up to $2,500.
A law firm alleges that Microsoft, owner of Minecraft, might have breached the privacy of users who purchased Minecraft games through the Minecraft.net website while logged into Facebook.
Attorneys collaborating with ClassAction.org suspect that Microsoft, the owner of Minecraft, may have violated federal privacy laws by utilizing a tracking tool called the Meta Pixel to covertly transmit user data to Facebook for advertising purposes. (Update: The website has apparently been up for quite some time.)
The alleged violations pertain to the sharing of information regarding game purchases made on Minecraft.net, including titles such as Minecraft, Minecraft Legends, or Minecraft Dungeons, along with corresponding Facebook IDs.
This could have let Facebook connect what users bought with their profiles, sparking worries about privacy. Joining the effort won’t cost anything, and you could get up to $2,500 under privacy laws.
Meta Pixel, formerly known as Facebook Pixel, is a tool offered by Meta (formerly Facebook) that helps businesses track and understand how users interact with their website after viewing Facebook or Instagram ads.
Just this year, popular entertainment company AMC agreed to pay $8.3 million to settle claims over its use of Meta Pixel (via ArsTehnica). It was alleged that AMC unlawfully shared viewers’ watching habits with companies like Google, Facebook, and X.
Novant Health, a major North Carolina hospital system, also settled a patient lawsuit for $6.6 million over its use of Meta Pixel on its website (via WRAL). This followed reports that WakeMed, Duke University Hospital, and UNC Health also used similar pixels to handle their patients’ data.
