Crunchyroll Users Can Receive $30 From Class-Action Lawsuit Over Privacy Violations
With news of another streaming service raising its prices coming out seemingly every other week, it is rare that one gives money back to its users. That is the case this week as the worldwide anime streamer Crunchyroll has reportedly reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit that alleges that the platform violated data privacy rules. As a result of the deal, some Crunchyroll customers are eligible to receive $30 from the company.
- Crunchyroll users are able to claim $30 from the streamer.
- Parent company Sony allegedly shared individual customer viewing data with third-party sites.
- Claims must be submitted by Dec. 12, 2023.
Anyone in the United States who used Crunchyroll from Sept. 8, 2020 to Sept. 20, 2023 is potentially eligible for the payout. The $30 per person settlement is due to the fact that Crunchyroll’s parent company Sony shared the individual viewing data of customers with third-party sites and advertisers without their express consent. This is a violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act under federal law. This means that streaming services are not legally allowed to share individual viewing data without the user’s consent. In most cases, they are able to share viewership data in the aggregate, but not in the granular detail of individual users’ activity.
Advertisers prefer to have the unique information for users, as that means that they are able to more specifically target people with ads that the consumers are likely to be interested in. While in theory this seems like it would be to the benefit of customers, many people view the sharing of this type of information to be a violation of their privacy. Despite agreeing to the settlement, Crunchyroll denies any wrongdoing in the case.
How Do You Claim Your Money from the Crunchyroll Class-Action Law Suit?
Eligible Crunchyroll customers are able to submit their claims online between now and Dec. 12, 2023. However, if you are amongst the impacted consumers, you are able to object to the settlement by Nov. 27. From there, you will need to attend the hearing on Dec. 19 in order to argue why the settlement was not satisfactory. Any eligible customers who do not respond in either way before the deadlines, will forfeit their right to compensation under the agreement.
What Is Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll is a worldwide streaming service that aims to connect anime and manga fans across more than 200 countries and territories with the content and experiences that they love. In addition to free ad-supported and subscription streaming content, Crunchyroll serves the anime community across events, theatrical, games, consumer products, collectibles, and manga publishing.
Via the streamer, anime lovers are able to access one of the largest collections of the genre’s titles in the world, which has been translated into multiple languages. Viewers are also able to watch simulcasts of some of the most popular anime series immediately after they air in Japan.
Sony officially acquired the anime platform from WarnerMedia in early 2021 for $1.175 billion. Since then, the platform has gone through numerous changes, including removing a number of legacy features, forming a strategic partnership with Google, requiring a premium subscription to watch simulcasts, and just this week, launching a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel.
Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll is a subscription video streaming service catering to fans of anime with over 30,000 episodes. Viewers can see new episodes of shows one hour after they air in Japan, and read hundreds of chapters across dozens of manga titles. Some of their more popular titles are Dragon Ball Super, Attack on Titan, and Fire Force.