Verizon faces class action lawsuit over alleged unauthorized sale of customer data

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Verizon Communications Inc., alleging that the telecommunications giant sold customer data to third parties without obtaining proper consent. The lawsuit, brought by plaintiff Susan Taylor, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

According to the lawsuit, Verizon disclosed sensitive customer information—including browsing history, location data, and app usage—to advertisers, data brokers, and other companies. Taylor contends that this practice enabled third parties to create detailed consumer profiles for targeted advertising, infringing on customer privacy.

“The identification of sensitive and private characteristics of individual customers from the location data sold or disclosed by Defendant constitutes an unwarranted invasion of Plaintiff’s and Class Members’ privacy,” the complaint states.

Taylor seeks to represent a nationwide class of consumers whose Customer Proprietary Network Information and personally identifiable data were allegedly collected, disclosed, and sold by Verizon without their knowledge or consent.

The lawsuit also accuses Verizon of providing misleading information about its privacy practices. Taylor argues that the company failed to offer customers a meaningful opportunity to opt out of data collection. Furthermore, the lawsuit challenges Verizon’s claims that any shared data was either de-identified or aggregated, asserting that such representations were misleading and did not prevent individual identification.

The plaintiff alleges that Verizon is guilty of negligence, unjust enrichment, invasion of privacy, and violations of the Federal Wiretap Act. Taylor is seeking a jury trial and is requesting declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as actual, compensatory, statutory, and punitive damages for herself and all affected class members.

This lawsuit follows a similar legal challenge filed against Verizon last year, in which two consumers alleged that the company captured and stored customer voiceprints without providing adequate disclosures or obtaining the necessary consent.