'Supercookie' Lawsuit May be Settled

'Person-based' analytics platform KISSmetrics has agreed a half million dollar payment to settle a class-action lawsuit over its use of 'supercookies'.

KISSmetrics promised to avoid using the software, including ETags, to track people online without an up-front notification and choice procedure, according to www.mediapost.com . A payment of around $500,000 is to be made to the attorneys who brought the case, and a more modest $2,500 each to the consumers who sued, according to court papers filed on Thursday. A judge's approval is required for the settlement to end the case without any admission of liability by the firm.

Just over a year ago, online entertainment bigwigs Hulu and Spotify withdrew from using the firm's analytics services after revelations that it was using 'ETags', which continue to track users even after more standard http cookies have been deleted.

Another lawsuit against both KISSmetrics and Hulu is still pending, in which the companies are accused of violating a federal video privacy law on sharing user data without their consent.

Web site: www.kissmetrics.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.