Yahoo must face e-mail spying class action: US judge

US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose (CA) ordered Yahoo Inc to face a nationwide class-action lawsuit accusing it of illegally intercepting the content of e-mails sent to Yahoo Mail subscribers from non-Yahoo Mail accounts, and using the information to boost advertising revenue. In a decision May 26, Judge Koh said people who sent e-mails to or received e-mails from Yahoo Mail subscribers since Oct. 2, 2011 may sue as a group under the federal Stored Communications Act for alleged privacy violations. She also said a class of non-Yahoo Mail subscribers in California since Oct. 2, 2012 may sue as a group under that state's Invasion of Privacy Act.

Holders of non-Yahoo Mail accounts accused Yahoo of copying and then analyzing their e-mails, including keywords and attachments, with a goal of creating "targeted advertising" for its estimated 275 million Yahoo Mail subscribers, in addition to detecting spam and malware. They sought an injunction barring the alleged interceptions, as well as damages. Yahoo in 2014 generated 79 percent of its revenue from search and display advertising. A class action can make it easier to obtain larger damages and more sweeping remedies at lower cost. The plaintiffs estimated that the nationwide class of non-Yahoo Mail subscribers has more than 1 million members. Judge Koh rejected Yahoo's arguments that some plaintiffs consented to its activity by e-mailing Yahoo subscribers even after learning how it used the information, and that the alleged injuries were too disparate to justify class certification.