A past DraftKings customer is suing the gaming firm, claiming it disclosed customers' video-watching patterns without consent. 

In a class action lawsuit submitted on Friday to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the attorney representing plaintiff Jeffrey Wan asserted that DraftKings utilized online tracking mechanisms and tools from Facebook, enabling the social media platform to gather information on the videos watched by bettors and the games they expressed interest in wagering on.

"Plaintiff Wan never consented, agreed, nor permitted Defendant to disclose Plaintiff’s personally identifiable information (PII) and viewing information to Facebook or other third parties and certainly did not do so for purposes violative of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA),” according to the legal document.

DraftKings is among the biggest online sportsbook operators in the US, and similar to numerous consumer-focused internet companies, it explicitly states that it will share customer information with external parties. 

“Certain products, services, or other materials displayed on the Website and Applications may integrate with, be integrated into, or be provided in connection with certain third-party services and content. We do not control those services and content and our Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy do not apply to those services and content,” according to the gaming company's privacy policy. 

DraftKings Managed Data-Sharing, Claims Wan 

Counsel for Wan claim that DraftKings was choosy about the customer data it provided to Facebook and that the social media platform would not have had access to customers' PII if the gaming operator hadn't used Facebook business tools. 

The tools comprised Facebook Pixel and Conversions API, which could have facilitated the transfer of customer data from DraftKings to the social media company. 

“More specifically, the Facebook pixel that Defendant installed and used tracked, recorded, and sent Facebook its customers’ granular Website and Apps activity, including the names of specific video games and other audio visual content that customers requested and/or viewed each time through Defendant’s Website and Apps. The information is not merely metadata,” noted Wan’s legal team in the court filing.

The lawyers further claimed that the Facebook tools utilized by DraftKings are not crucial to its business model, and even if they were, they could have been employed in a manner that would protect clients' viewing patterns and data. The legal team mentioned that whenever a customer watches a video or buys something on DraftKings, a record of that action is sent — unbeknownst to the client — to Facebook. 

“At no point did Plaintiff or the Class Members consent to Defendant’s disclosure of their video viewing history to third parties. As such, Defendant deprived Plaintiff and the Class Members of their privacy rights and control over their personal information,” according to the filing.

DraftKings Legal Issues Accumulating 

The Wan v. DraftKings lawsuit is the most recent in a growing series of legal actions against the Boston-based gaming firm. In the previous month, attorneys representing a former DraftKings engineer filed a lawsuit against the company in a federal court in Massachusetts, claiming that the company terminated his employment for asking for parental leave. If accurate, that could be a possible breach of the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

Shortly after the lawsuit was initiated, a woman from New Jersey took legal action against DraftKings, claiming that the company "encouraged" her husband's gambling issues, which led him to deplete almost $1 million from the family's finances. The major sportsbook is currently engaged in legal disputes with two unions representing pro athletes concerning the use of player likenesses. 

In September, the gaming firm consented to pay a $200,000 civil fine after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asserted that CEO Jason Robins revealed significant, confidential financial information on his social media platforms.