Could Foot Locker Lose $25M from Lawsuits Related to Its Customer Chat Feature?

>What's Happening?

Footwear News reports that Foot Locker is the target of a new privacy-related lawsuit related to their chat feature.

Essentially the idea is that because you are recording text conversations on chat, archiving them, and sharing them with analytics partners to analyze them and gather insights... so that must mean you are involved in illegal wiretapping.

Oh, yeah, and the lawsuit could cost Foot Locker up to $25 Million if it goes through. So, not peanuts.

> Why Is it Happening?

One of the downsides of the Internet being accessible broadly is unfortunately it's easy to get sued. Any lawyer with a willingness to build a list of the top 200 websites and look for violations can easily file a lawsuit.

That especially is true where there is existing legislation could never contemplate the seemingly daily advance of technology.

Some might call this technology useful, others might call it mass surveillance. Sure you initiated a chat, but what precisely did you consent to when you did that? To keep personal details of your conversation forever? For their employees to read it? The company's partners?

It's more slippery than you want to admit. Witness a quote from the lawsuit:

“Visitors would be shocked and appalled to know that Defendant secretly records those conversations, and would be even more troubled to learn that Defendant allows a third party to eavesdrop on the conversations in real time to harvest data from the chat transcripts under the guise of ‘data analytics.'"

Even I can admit it sounds scary when you put it that way.

> What Will Happen Next?

First, it's good to know that this is not just isolated. Similar lawsuits were filed against Crocs and Adidas last November. Which means, it's entirely possible more could be coming.

In the end, I'm sure it will be appealed and settled... but if the lawyers succeed, that will just embolden then right?

One way many years for now it could lead to new legislation and disclosure requirements.

> What Could I Do Now?

While the whole thing plays out, it may not be a terrible idea to send your corporate lawyer this article to see if there anything to be concerned about.

At the very least, some extra disclosures and explicit mentions in your privacy policy may be worthwhile to research.