<b><i>Online Extra</b></i> Redbox Prevails in Video Privacy Protection Act Appeal

A federal appellate court ruled last month that self-service movie kiosk company Redbox did not violate the Video Privacy Protection Act by giving an outside customer-service vendor access to its customer database.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed Northern District of Illinois Judge Matthew Kennelly's August 2013 summary judgment for the company.

In'Sterk v. Redbox Automated Retail LLC, Kennelly wrote that the information sharing fell within an exception to the law that allows such disclosures in the ordinary course of business.

The Seventh Circuit agreed in a ruling by Judge Joel Flaum. 'If it is permissible to disclose [personally identifiable information] to Stream in order to respond to a customer's call, there is nothing objectionable about Redbox's wholesale disclosure of information pertaining to all customers, for use in the event of such a call,' he wrote. Judges Michael Kanne and Daniel Manion joined the opinion.

The ruling also approved disclosure of customer information in Stream's training programs.

Redbox user Kevin Sterk's original complaint, filed in March 2011, alleged that Redbox violated the act by unlawfully retaining customer information. His amended lawsuit, joined by Jiah Chung, added the unlawful-disclosure claim.

The Seventh Circuit ruled in 2012 that the law does not provide for monetary damages'for an unlawful retention claim.

Neither Redbox nor Dentons Chicago partner Natalie Spears, who argued for the company on appeal, responded to requests for comment.

Roger Perlstadt, a Chicago associate at Edelson who argued the plaintiffs' Seventh Circuit case, did not respond.

Thursday's ruling echoed recent district court decisions. U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. of Georgia this month dismissed a similar purported class action,'Ellis v. The Cartoon Network Inc.

In June, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler declined to certify a class allegedly harmed by video privacy act violations in'In re: Hulu Privacy Litigation.'In an April summary judgment, Beeler said Hulu was not liable for sharing user information with data analytics firm comScore Inc., but was liable for sharing it with Facebook Inc.

Sheri Qualters writes for The National Law Journal, an ALM sibling of Internet Law & Strategy. She can be contacted at [email protected].

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A federal appellate court ruled last month that self-service movie kiosk company Redbox did not violate the Video Privacy Protection Act by giving an outside customer-service vendor access to its customer database.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed Northern District of Illinois Judge Matthew Kennelly's August 2013 summary judgment for the company.

In'Sterk v. Redbox Automated Retail LLC, Kennelly wrote that the information sharing fell within an exception to the law that allows such disclosures in the ordinary course of business.

The Seventh Circuit agreed in a ruling by Judge Joel Flaum. 'If it is permissible to disclose [personally identifiable information] to Stream in order to respond to a customer's call, there is nothing objectionable about Redbox's wholesale disclosure of information pertaining to all customers, for use in the event of such a call,' he wrote. Judges Michael Kanne and Daniel Manion joined the opinion.

The ruling also approved disclosure of customer information in Stream's training programs.

Redbox user Kevin Sterk's original complaint, filed in March 2011, alleged that Redbox violated the act by unlawfully retaining customer information. His amended lawsuit, joined by Jiah Chung, added the unlawful-disclosure claim.

The Seventh Circuit ruled in 2012 that the law does not provide for monetary damages'for an unlawful retention claim.

Neither Redbox nor Dentons Chicago partner Natalie Spears, who argued for the company on appeal, responded to requests for comment.

Roger Perlstadt, a Chicago associate at Edelson who argued the plaintiffs' Seventh Circuit case, did not respond.

Thursday's ruling echoed recent district court decisions. U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. of Georgia this month dismissed a similar purported class action,'Ellis v. The Cartoon Network Inc.

In June, U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler declined to certify a class allegedly harmed by video privacy act violations in'In re: Hulu Privacy Litigation.'In an April summary judgment, Beeler said Hulu was not liable for sharing user information with data analytics firm comScore Inc., but was liable for sharing it with Facebook Inc.

Sheri Qualters writes for The National Law Journal, an ALM sibling of Internet Law & Strategy. She can be contacted at [email protected].

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