ALBAWABA - Popular anime streaming platform Crunchyroll has once again found itself in hot water after being accused of allegedly sharing viewers' data with a marketing company without consent.
According to Art Threat, the lawsuit was filed on March 5 in the US Central District of California and alleges that the US-based anime streaming site could face up to $2,500 per user affected for violating the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA).
The case titled "Cabonios v. Crunchyroll, LLC" alleges that Crunchyroll has been sharing its data with the marketing agency called Braze since 2022 and that over 17 million subscribers and 130 million accounts might have been potentially affected, sparking mass privacy concerns among anime fans who use the platform.
Crunchyroll faces lawsuit over sharing viewer data without consent
A Crunchyroll subscriber wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Let me know when and where I can collect my $2500 because that's all the information I need."
Another added, "Thats why people prefer to watch on pirated site since you dont need to create account to watch."
The lawsuit states further that the anime streaming platform also shared sensitive data such as its users' IDs and email addresses.
Legal plaintiff's state in the lawsuit that, "The information transmitted enables Braze to identify exactly what video content each specific Crunchyroll subscriber is watching. Over time, through repeated transmissions, the App facilitates building comprehensive profiles of each user’s viewing behavior."
This comes 3 years after Crunchyroll faced a similar case by violating the US Video Privacy Protection Act. According to Variety, a lawsuit was filed in 2022 against Sony Pictures Entertainment and the anime streaming platform for providing Meta and other third-party platforms with sensitive user data without their consent.
