Thomson Reuters Class Action Privacy Lawsuit Settlement

Who can submit a claim? 

Any adults who lived in California at any point between December 3, 2016 and October 31, 2024 can submit a claim for a payment from the settlement. 

Do I need an account with Thomson Reuters or CLEAR to file a claim? 

No. You just need to have resided in California for any amount of time between December 3, 2016 and October 31, 2024. 

How much money will I get? 

The current estimated payout is between $19 and $48. However, the final amount depends on how many valid claims are submitted before the deadline. 

When is the deadline to submit a claim? 

The deadline to submit a claim is December 6, 2024 at 11:59p (Pacific Time). 

Once I submit a claim, when can I expect to receive money? 

The date that settlement payments will be sent out has not been finalized, but it will be after the Final Approval Hearing currently scheduled for February 13, 2025 at 1:30pm (Pacific Time).  

I don’t live in California anymore. Can I still file a claim? 

 If you resided in California for any amount of time between December 3, 2016 and October 31, 2024, you can still file a claim until December 6, 2024 at 11:59p (Pacific Time). 

What happens if I do nothing? 

If you do nothing, you will not get money from the settlement. However, you will still be bound by the settlement, which means you can’t start, continue, or participate in any other lawsuits against Thomas Reuters about the same issues in this case (see question above). 

Why are Californians receiving money from Thomson Reuters? 

Thomson Reuters is settling a lawsuit alleging that the company harvested millions of California residents’ public and non-public information to create detailed profiles. The company then sold access to these profiles to commercial and government entities through an online platform called CLEAR, all without the knowledge or consent of the profiled Californians. Read more about the settlement below. 

On October 11, 2024, Gibbs Law Group and co-counsel received preliminary approval of a $27.5 million settlement against Thomson Reuters, a media and data company. Our lawsuit alleges that millions of California residents’ public and non-public information was harvested to create detailed profiles, and that Thomson Reuters sold access to those profiles to commercial and government entities through an online platform called CLEAR, all without the knowledge or consent of the profiled Californians. 

Under the $27.5 million settlement, Californians can receive money for the commercial use of their information. The settlement also requires business practice changes to address the alleged privacy harms going forward. 

The court will hold a final approval hearing on February 13, 2025. The court may change the hearing date without further notice to class members except for notice on the court’s public docket. 

In 2021 the Washington Post discovered that Thomson Reuters was selling people’s personal information to government entities including the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense. They revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had used Thomson Reuters’s CLEAR database to pursue immigration violations and deport U.S. residents.  

The lawsuit against Thomson Reuters alleges that the company is collecting tons of personal data about Californians without their knowledge or consent—and then selling access to it for a profit. The CLEAR platform allegedly contains:

The CLEAR platform also allows users to review a “calculated risk” score for each person. As the complaint alleges, a user can search by highly invasive and questionable “flags” in CLEAR which may show whether a person has:  

• had an abortion  
• changed their name (common for trans people and victims of domestic violence)  
• owned a registered weapon  
• had same-sex relations (described jarringly as “Homosexual Act with a Man” and “Homosexual Act with a Woman”)  
• refused to aid a police officer  

According to the Post, privacy advocates accuse data platforms like CLEAR of being a “workaround” for government agencies who would otherwise need a warrant to access consumers’ personal data.  

Cat Brooks, an Oakland activist and lead plaintiff for the case, is already targeted by law enforcement and white supremacists. Without her consent, CLEAR has now made it easier for individuals who may wish to harm her to buy a trove of her personal data.  

KTVU 2

October 29, 2024:  How Californians can cash in on $27.5M Thomson Reuters settlement payout

“The settlement accomplishes what I hoped for when I decided to bring this case,” Shabazz said in a statement. “It makes it easier for Californians to learn about CLEAR. It makes it easier for Californians to get their information out of CLEAR. And it requires Thomson Reuters to take steps to be protective of Californians’ privacy while they operate CLEAR.”

SF Gate 

October 28, 2024:  Millions of Californians can claim cash from $27.5 million lawsuit settlement 

“After a class-action suit brought by 2 Bay Area activists, Thomson Reuters agreed to pay up and make changes to its Clear product.” 

Law360 

August 22, 2023: Data Lessons For Tech Cos. After Class Cert. In Reuters Suit  

“Judge Chen’s opinion is an important brick in the wall protecting data privacy in the internet age. If consumers are going to demand that their personal information not be misappropriated or misused — particularly without their knowledge, consent and compensation — the courts must be willing to identify those discrete property and privacy rights.”  

The Logic 

August 17, 2023: Thomson Reuters dealt blow as U.S. judge certifies class action over ‘tremendous’ alleged privacy harm 

Washington Post 

March 18, 2021: The Technology 202: Activists are suing Thomson Reuters over its sale of personal data  

“When we look at the ways that these data brokers are remaking our country, the Fourth Amendment concerns are terrifying, but the way that they’re allowing companies to track millions without the most basic consent is deeply alarming as well.” —Albert Fox Cahn, Executive Director of Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP)  

October 2024  

On October 11, 2024, the Court granted preliminary approval of a $27.5 million deal to settle this certified class action. The settlement provides individuals who resided in California for any period of time since December 3, 2016, with the opportunity to submit claims for monetary relief, and makes a host of privacy-protective changes to Thomson Reuters’ operation of CLEAR going forward. The Court will decide whether to finally approve the settlement on February 13, 2025.  

November 2023  

Thomson Reuters asked the Ninth Circuit to allow it to appeal the class certification decision, and on November 17, 2023, the Ninth Circuit denied Thomson Reuters’s petition. The case is continuing in federal district court.  

August 2023  

In August 2023, the Court certified a class of “all persons who, during the limitations period, both resided in the state of California and whose personal information Thomson Reuters made available through CLEAR without their consent.” The Court recognized the “tremendous harm that can result from a loss of control over one’s personal information,” and found that Thomson Reuters “directly contravened Californians’ right to keep private their most intimate and personal information by collecting their data without consent, aggregating, and offering it for sale to great profit.” The Court agreed with us that this case meets the requirements of a class action, and that the class could proceed to challenge Thomson Reuters’ “uniform practice” of selling access to class members’ information without consent.  

Cat Brooks and Rasheed Shabazz, long-time Oakland residents and activists, were appointed to represent the class as named plaintiffs. Co-counsel Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll was also appointed class counsel.  

August 2021  

In August 2021, we got an important ruling from the Court concluding that our lawsuit could continue. The Court’s order explained that “the harm to Plaintiffs is tremendous: an all-encompassing invasion of Plaintiffs’ privacy, whereby virtually everything about them—including their contact information, partially redacted social security number, criminal history, family history, and even whether they got an abortion, to name just a few—is transmitted to strangers without their knowledge, let alone their consent.” In particular, the Court allowed our claim that Thomson Reuters engaged in unfair business practices, in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law, to continue. In doing so, the Court rejected Thomson Reuters’s arguments that its conduct was protected under the Communications Decency Act or by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  

Following the Court’s Order, we proceeded through discovery which allows the parties to further investigate the factual evidence in support of their claims.  

December 2020  

Gibbs Law Group filed a class action lawsuit challenging Thomson Reuters’s creation and sale of access to its CLEAR platform on behalf of all Californians whose personal information was made available for sale through CLEAR without their consent.