Mobile ad firm Ringleader targeted in privacy lawsuit

Mobile advertising solutions provider Ringleader Digital is the target of a new lawsuit alleging the firm violated consumer privacy with its RLD Media Stamp targeting technology, which the Ringleader website describes as “the mobile equivalent of an online ‘cookie.’” The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the United States District Court, Central District of California, claims Ringleader and partners including CNN, Travel Channel and AccuWeather intentionally exploited mobile software capabilities “for the purpose of tracking plaintiffs’ Internet activities.” According to the suit, Ringleader “unknowingly accessed and created databases on plaintiffs’ mobile devices as well as placed information on plaintiffs’ mobile devices without [their] knowledge or consent,” “assigned plaintiffs’ mobile devices unique identification numbers for the purpose of tracking these devices” and “stored information they acquired about plaintiffs’ phone and mobile browsing activities on Ringleader Digital’s databases.”

The lawsuit goes on to state “If plaintiffs cleaned their cookies folder and deleted their browser history, this would have no effect on defendants’ ability to continue to track plaintiffs because the information necessary to track plaintiffs, the unique ID, is stored in the HTML5 databases… Even if plaintiffs were to take the traditional step to block advertisers and websites from tracking their movements, Ringleader Digital’s Media Stamp, as licensed and used by the other defendants, thwarted those efforts.” In an interview with Wired.com, Majed Nachawati–Dallas attorney behind the Ringleader lawsuit–said “You can’t get rid of that database. You’re left with this database tracking you and your phone and your viewing habits on the net, which is a violation of federal privacy laws.”

Ringleader Digital’s Media Stamp privacy policy reads “As part of our commitment to privacy, we give you the choice to opt out of Media Stamp,” offering users a web link to its opt-out utility. “Once implemented, the opt-out will be effective for the life of the device unless you install a new browser, or update your existing browser, in which case you will need to re-implement the opt out utility in order to maintain your opt out status. If you have opted out, we will not use Media Stamp to apply targeting that relies on the unique identification of your device or otherwise use data concerning your mobile device other than to implement your opt out decision.”

Ringleader maintains it committed no wrongdoing. “To the extent that the plaintiffs are alleging that Ringleader violated any laws relating to consumers’ privacy, Ringleader intends to defend its practices vigorously,” Ringleader Digital CEO Bob Walczak wrote in an e-mail to Wired.com.

For more on the Ringleader Digital suit:
- read this Wired.com article

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