Plaintiffs reach $10M settlement with data aggregator Spokeo

[San Francisco, CA] – The parties in a right of publicity lawsuit against data aggregator Spokeo have reached a $10 million settlement agreement to resolve the case. Represented by attorneys from Morgan & Morgan, Strauss Borrelli PLLC, Benjamin Osborn PLLC, Edelson PC, Bursor & Fisher, P.A. and Carney Bates & Pulliam PLLC, the class of plaintiffs achieved this result after more than five years of litigation against the company. The proposed Settlement would resolve claims under the right of publicity laws of Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota and Washington. 

Spokeo is an online service that aggregates data about individuals into publicly available profiles including their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, among other information. The plaintiffs allege Spokeo created these profiles without their permission, and that Spokeo unlawfully profited by publishing their information and caused them harm stemming from the loss of control over their personal information. All of the named plaintiffs in this class-action case were used by Spokeo in “teaser profiles” that displayed information about them allegedly without their knowledge or consent.

In 2024, Judge William H. Orrick certified a class of Californians and another class of Ohioans – totaling 275,000 individuals – allowing this important right of publicity case to move forward and ultimately reach this $10 million resolution.

“Companies navigating today’s information economy routinely put their profits ahead of individuals' rights, and this case is no different,” said Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan and lead trial attorney Michael Ram. “Class members alleged that Spokeo used their names and personal information in advertisements to sell subscriptions to its online database of information about individuals. We are pleased that this resolution holds Spokeo accountable for its alleged invasions of people's rights to their information, and we hope cases like this compel data brokers like Spokeo to change their behavior.”

The case is Kellman et al v. Spokeo, Inc., No. 3:2021cv08976 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Spokeo is represented by a team of attorneys from Mayer Brown LLP.