Eric Gibbs Appointed as Co-Lead Counsel in Vizio Privacy Class Action Lawsuit

On June 8, 2016, United States District Court Judge Josephine Staton appointed Eric Gibbs to serve as co-lead counsel in the In re: Vizio, Inc., Consumer Privacy Litigation. Attorneys from across the United States submitted applications to lead the litigation on behalf of consumers who alleged that Vizio Smart TVs track what viewers watch and match the information to customers’ IP addresses, and that Vizio sells the information about customers’ TV habits for profit. Judge Staton’s order appointed Eric and a co-lead to coordinate and oversee the litigation on behalf of the plaintiffs, and created a four-person Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee to support the efforts.

Vizio Lawsuit Background Information

The Vizio class action lawsuits, which were filed in federal courts throughout the country, allege that Vizio Smart TVs installed tracking software to monitor what users were watching, and did so without the knowledge or consent of the smart TV viewers. Several news publications reported on Vizio’s “smart interactivity” feature and disclosed that Vizio shares information it collects with media and data companies to “make better-informed decisions” about content and advertising strategies. It has also been reported that while other smart TV manufacturers collect data from their users, those products require customers to affirmatively turn on the feature, while Vizio’s products turn on that feature by default.

Now that a leadership structure has been appointed, the plaintiffs will file a consolidated class action complaint, outlining the plaintiffs’ legal claims and facts.

Eric Gibbs’ Leadership in Privacy Litigation

Eric Gibbs has twenty years of experience representing plaintiffs in class and collective actions in courts throughout the country. He has established himself as a leader in emerging litigation concerning consumers’ rights in privacy cases, and has achieved meaningful reforms to business practices and millions of dollars in recoveries for plaintiffs in privacy cases, including cases against Adobe, Premera Blue Cross and Health Net.

Eric is active in the consumer privacy bar, co-founding the American Association for Justice’s Data Breach and Privacy Litigation Group, and serving as chair and organizer of several consumer privacy conferences on best practices and developments in consumer privacy litigation. On September 29-30, 2016, Mr. Gibbs will speak on Class Actions: Data Privacy & Security Breach Case Law, Trends in Key Jurisdictions and Circuit Court Rulings, New Class Certification Issues at the ACI Data Breach & Privacy Litigation and Enforcement Conference in New York.

Eric has been named consecutively in The Best Lawyers in America for Mass Tort Litigation and Class Action since 2012, and he has been consistently honored as a Northern California Super Lawyer (2010-2015), (Top 100). He has earned AV-Preeminent rankings from Martindale-Hubbell, recognizing him in the highest class of attorneys for professional ethics and legal skills.