Lawsuit accuses GameStop of wiretapping customers

A suit filed this week accuses GameStop of recording conversations via its support service without customer's content, and violating privacy laws in the US.

According to the case, as reported by Bloomberg, the retailer is accused of obtaining and sharing "the secret transcripts of those wiretaps with a third party that boasts of its ability to harvest personal data..." and claimed that said data is used "for marketing and other purposes."

It went on to allege that GameStop "neither informs visitors nor obtains their prior express consent to these intrusions."

The suit claimed that the firm is sharing "secret transcripts" with Zendesk, a customer support service provider, and said: "rather than merely providing a software service, Defendant allows Zendesk to intercept and use the secret transcripts."

"Given the nature of Defendant’s business, website visitors typically share highly personal and sensitive data with Defendant when using the website chat feature," the suit continued. "Consumers would be shocked and appalled to know that Defendant secretly creates transcripts of those conversations and shares them with a third party."

Via these allegations, GameStop is accused of violating the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) which states that "website operations cannot create transcripts of visitors' conversations without obtaining prior, express consent from all parties to the conversation."

Lawyers working with the plaintiff, Miguel Licea, added in the filing that "compliance with CIPA is easy, and the vast majority of companies comply with the law by simply notifying website visitors if their conversations are being recorded."

GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to GameStop for further comment.