Oracle to Pay $115 Million in Consumer Data Privacy Settlement

Oracle has agreed to a $115 million settlement in a class action lawsuit accusing the company of illegally collecting and selling consumer data to third parties.

Consumers Affected: Individuals whose personal information was collected and sold by Oracle without their consent.

Reason for Lawsuit: Allegations that Oracle violated federal and state privacy laws by creating "digital dossiers" on consumers, tracking their online activity, and selling this data to marketers.

Settlement Amount: $115 million

Court: The class action lawsuit was filed and settled in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California.

Tech giant Oracle has agreed to pay consumers $115 million to settle a class action lawsuit in which it is accused of illegally collecting consumers' private information while they browse online, and then selling it on to marketing companies. 

While the Texas-based company denies any wrongdoing stemming from the lawsuit filed in 2022, it has opted to settle the lawsuit after a judge previously denied the company’s attempts to get it thrown out. 

As part of the settlement deal, Oracle will no longer collect user-generated information or text entered into online forms that come from the URLs of any website other than the company’s own, Reuters reports. 

The company and plaintiffs now need a judge's approval of the settlement to spell the end of the legal ordeal. 

Lawsuit Accuses Oracle of Building "Digital Dossiers" on Consumers

Michael Katz-Lacabe and Jennifer Golbeck filed the proposed class action lawsuit against Oracle accusing the company of violating federal and state privacy laws creating unauthorized "digital dossiers" for hundreds of millions of people, Bloomberg Law reports.

Using cookies, pixels, cross-device tracking, and more, and combining that online intel with data collected in brick and mortar stores, Oracle built dossiers that included where people looked online, where they did their banking, purchased gas, ate out, and shopped, according to the lawsuit. 

Oracle then collated that information and sold it on to marketers, the lawsuit alleged.

Oracle's History of Legal Battles

Founded in California in 1977, Oracle is now among the largest software and hardware companies in the world. The company develops and sells business software applications and services, and is known for its database management systems (DBMS), cloud computing, and other products.

As well as developing a vast number of information technology solutions, it has also acquired an extensive portfolio of companies.

The multinational is no stranger to legal action and has already had to pay out millions this year, settling a long-running class action lawsuit in which it was accused of underpaying around 4,000 female staff. Oracle agreed to pay the female workers $25 million to end the lawsuit.

Privacy Concerns Fueling Class Action Lawsuits Against Major Companies

While Oracle has agreed to the settlement to end the litigation, a number of other companies are facing fresh legal action from consumers for allegedly being too haphazard with their personal information.

This month, Henry Ford Health was accused in a class action lawsuit of secretly tracking and sharing patients' confidential medical data with third parties, including Facebook and Google, without their consent. Meanwhile, Paychex was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging that the company's negligence led to a data breach exposing the personal information of employees whose employers use Paychex services. 

Patelco Credit Union was met with two class action lawsuits this month, following a ransomware attack that compromised customer data and disrupted services. The lawsuits accuse the credit union of negligence in protecting customer information and failing to provide timely notification of the breach.

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America Inc.
• Case Number: 22-04792
• Court: U.S. District Court Northern District of California

Plaintiffs' Attorneys

• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein