Lawsuit claims H&R Block, Meta, Google used spyware to illegally share consumers' financial data

 Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta (META), and H&R Block (HRB) are facing a proposed class action lawsuit alleging they illegally coordinated to use spyware to collect and share taxpayers’ sensitive financial information.

A similar lawsuit was brought against Google and H&R Block in July, on the heels of a Congressional investigation into a data collection technology known as tracking “pixels” used to generate lucrative targeted ads. The case alleges the companies conspired to collect and exploit data on hundreds of H&R Block customers, without their consent.

Pixels operate quietly in the background of millions of websites, some tracking visitors’ entries in real time. Companies like H&R Block that handle entries containing sensitive financial information are required by law to refrain from sharing that data with third parties unless they’ve obtained their customer’s consent.

According to the suit, H&R Block tried to circumvent federal racketeering and other laws by misleading consumers using vague language in their customer consent agreements and programming agreements with Meta and Google. Meta and Google for their part, the plaintiff’s claim, conspired with H&R Block and misled consumers about the types of information that website developers like H&R Block could access.

“Defendants knew that by concealing their involvement with one another … [they] could acquire and share [personal tax data] in contravention of the law for defendants’ own financial gains,” the complaint states.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-claims-hr-block-meta-google-used-spyware-to-illegally-share-consumers-financial-data-175419860.html