Sportsman's Warehouse Class Action Alleges Illegal Customer Data Sharing

Case Overview: A class action lawsuit has been filed against Sportsman's Warehouse, alleging the company shared customer data with AddShoppers without their consent.

Consumers Affected: California residents who made purchases on Sportsman's Warehouse.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Utah

Sportsman’s Warehouse is the latest company to be accused of sharing consumer data without their consent in a new lawsuit that claims the outdoor recreation outlet allows web tracking company AddShoppers to access their communications. 

By doing so, Sportsman’s Warehouse violates California laws designed to protect peoples’ privacy rights based on their disclosure of protected information, the lawsuit states.

AddShoppers, it alleges, “surreptitiously collects and pools the sensitive personal information” consumers give to online retailers in confidence, and creates dossiers on the individuals, and then tracks them across the internet to monitor their web browsing for its own financial benefit.  

“Not only are AddShoppers’ marketing and tracking practices unsavory, but they are also illegal. As deployed, AddShoppers’ tracking software functions as a wiretap,” the lawsuit states.

Sportsman's Warehouse Accused of Sharing Consumer Data Without Consent

Sacramento resident Miguel Cordero filed the proposed class action lawsuit against Sportsman's Warehouse after he requested his data from AddShoppers to see who had shared it with them. Sportsman's was amongst a number of websites that has shared his data nonconsensually, he alleges. 

He said that while he never shared his email with Sportsman's Warehouse, he visited their site and the company then shared all his communications with the site with AddShopper. That information was included in AddShoppers Data Co-Op and paired with other data on Cordero that other companies also shared, all without his consent. 

“Plaintiff and class members are harmed every time their PII is used or shared in a manner to which they did not consent, particularly when it is used to solicit them for marketing and advertising purposes,” the lawsuit alleges.

Alleged Invasive Tracking Practices and Privacy Risks

AddShoppers runs an “invasive and sinister operation,” according to the lawsuit, whereby it collects consumer data from its partner companies without consent, creating a Data Co-Op, and then uses that information to send direct solicitations to them—again without their consent or knowledge. 

For example, if someone creates an account to buy pet food on a retailer’s website, and the retailer is part of the AddShoppers “Data Co-Op”, AddShoppers surreptitiously captures the information provided to the retailer, tracks the person’s web browsing across the internet, and then uses their information to provide targeted advertisements to the individual on behalf of members of the Data Co-Op, the lawsuit explains.

“Unwittingly, shoppers become part of AddShoppers’ SafeOpt network without ever signing up for the service; instead, “joining” SafeOpt by making a purchase from a company participating in AddShoppers’ Data Co-Op and having their information traded without their knowledge and consent,” the lawsuit alleges. 

As the lawsuit points out, the consequences of this type of tracking can be serious and pose very real privacy concerns. 

Privacy Concerns Over Tracking Online Shopping Habits

SafeOpt, the program used by AddShopper, partner businesses include companies that sell highly personal products, including feminine hygiene and men’s health products. The lawsuit argues that tracking these purchases can reveal “exceptionally private information about customers to anyone that shares a computer.”

A software engineer who authored a blog post cited in the lawsuit criticized AddShoppers after he received an email to his personal account imploring him to return to buy a breast pump even though he never provided his information to the website. 

Another consumer received emails from a colon cleansing company after he visited the website without providing any personal information. 

Multiple Lawsuits Target Addshoppers' Data Collection Practices

Cordero’s lawsuit isn’t AddTrackers first legal challenge. In 2023, a consumer accused the company, along with Peet’s Coffee and Every Man Jack, of illegally using consumer data to track consumers without consent in a class action lawsuit. 

Earlier this year, the company was hit with another class action lawsuit accusing it of the same issue, this time by a Philadelphia consumer.

AddShoppers isn’t alone in facing pressure from consumers in how it tracks and uses their data. A class action lawsuit was filed against Office Depot in July, alleging that the company secretly embedded spy pixel trackers in its marketing emails to Arizona residents. The lawsuit claims that these trackers collect sensitive information without the recipients' consent, violating Arizona's privacy laws.

In Cordero’s lawsuit, he wants to represent all California residents impacted by Sportsman’s Warehouse data sharing. He is accusing the company of violating California’s Invasion of Privacy Act and other state laws and is seeking civil damages in the amount of at least $5,000 per occurrence, as well as other damages, interest, injunctive relief, fees, and costs.

Case Details

• Lawsuit: Cordero v. Sportsman's Warehouse, Inc. et al.
• Case Number: 2:24-CV-00575-CMR
• Court: U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Utah

Plaintiffs' Attorneys

• Brady L. Rasmussen (Parsons Behle & Latimer) 
• Eric S. Dwoskin (Dwoskin Wasdin LLP)
• Norman E. Siegel,  J. Austin Moore, and Kasey Youngentob (Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP)

Have you ever felt like your online shopping habits were being tracked and used without your consent? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.