No Class: Hulu Users Lose Certification Motion

After a decision denying class certification last week, claims by Hulu users that their personal information was improperly disclosed to Facebook are limited to the individual named plaintiffs (at least for now, as the decision was without prejudice).

The plaintiffs alleged Hulu violated the federal Video Privacy Protection Act by configuring its website to include a Facebook "like" button. This functionality used cookies that disclosed users' information to Facebook. But, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California credited expert evidence presented by Hulu that three things could stop the cookies from transmitting information: 1) if the Facebook "keep me logged in" feature was not activated; 2) if the user manually cleared cookies after his or her Facebook and Hulu sessions, or 3) if the user used cookie blocking or ad blocking software.