Privacy First has teamed up with the Austrian NOYB (the organization of privacy activist Max Schrems) to found the new mass claims organization CUIC (1). CUIC stands for Consumers United in Court, also pronounced "CU in Court" (see you in court). CUIC's mission is to protect consumer privacy, primarily by conducting strategic, class action lawsuits against organizations that make a lot of money by unlawfully using personal data. To this end, CUIC takes collective action, combining the forces of consumers, aimed at compensation for damages suffered. CUIC's first case will be brought against tech company Avast, which for years unlawfully collected and resold the online surfing habits of millions of people. Today, CUIC filed the subpoena against Avast to that effect.
CUIC today filed subpoenas against software company Avast that made virus scanners that illegally collected the surfing behavior of millions of people on computers, tablets or phones, including in the Netherlands. This data was then resold to other companies through an Avast subsidiary for millions of euros. This included data about users' health, locations visited, political affiliation, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or economic situation. This information was linked to each specific user through unique user IDs. In a press release (2) today, CUIC president Wilmar Hendriks put it this way: "People thought they were safe with a virus scanner, but its very creator tracked everything they did on their computer. Avast sold this information to third parties for big money. They even advertised the gold mine of data they had captured. Companies like Avast should not be allowed to get away with this. That is why we are bringing this lawsuit. Those who will not hear, should feel."
Back in March 2023, the Czech Privacy Authority (UOOU) concluded that Avast violated the AVG and fined the company approximately €13.7 million. The U.S. federal consumer authority, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), also recently ordered Avast to pay USD16.5 million in compensation to users and ordered it to stop selling or making collected data available to third parties, delete that collected data and implement a comprehensive privacy program.
The lawsuit for which CUIC sued Avast today should lead to compensation for users in the Netherlands. Privacy First considers this a rock-solid case that could set an important precedent, both in terms of legal protection against illegal data trading and in terms of redress for consumers.
People who had an Avast virus filter or browser extension on their computer, laptop, phone or tablet, or on those of their children, during the 2014-2020 period are being urged to apply for compensation. Already 12,000 Dutch consumers who used the covertly spying software have joined the lawsuit. For each user, CUIC demands compensation of at least €1000. For more information and to register your claim, go to www.cuic.eu !
(1) https://cuic.eu/
(2) https://cuic.eu/static/pdf/Persbericht%20dagvaardingen%20CUIC%20tegen%20Avast%20uitgebracht.pdf
