Netflix users object to video privacy settlement

Dozens of Netflix users are filing objections to a class action settlement that would see Netflix pay $9 million to be released from claims that it illegally retained customers video records.

The objectors, who are filing their protest with a California court, complain that subscribers receive none of the money. The settlement is meant to resolve dozens of lawsuits related to Netflix’s decision to retain subscribers’ rental histories for more than one year in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act. The VPPA is a 1988 law that Congress passed to regulate video stores but, in recent years, it has become a headache for companies like Netflix and Facebook. The Netflix settlement, which affects tens of millions of subscribers nationwide, was proposed in February and a federal judge gave it a conditional green light in July. Since then, lawyers have been sending out millions of emails to notify customers. This notification process would normally pave the way for the court to rubber stamp the $9 million deal at a scheduled hearing in December. But that approval may now be at risk given that court records show more than 50 objection letters. The objections vary in length and sophistication but the underlying complaint is the same — that third party privacy groups and lawyers get the money while the subscribers get nothing.