Kim Kardashian‘s super-successful SKIMS company has been accused of violating the privacy of its customers.
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, a female customer filed a lawsuit against the company claiming the shapewear brand used “secretly deployed spyware” to access her device and place a “trap and trace” tracking software.
Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS Accused Of Invasion Of Privacy
The California customer claims to be “a consumer privacy advocate who works as a tester” and is going after SKIMS for allegedly secretly accessing her device after she visited the website in 2023.
In the filing, the woman accuses Kardashian’s company of monetizing its knowledge of its visitors’ activities, which is obtained through tracking software such as “pen register” and/or “trap and trace” spyware, usually known as “PR/TT Spyware.”
“Defendant has embedded at least one PR/TT beacon on its website to capture electronic impulses originating from the site to identify the source of the communication, including the identity and geolocation of every website visitor,” the document states.
It continues, “The PR/TT beacon on Defendant’s website deploys numerous signaling mechanisms to trap and trace its users; it monitors users’ activity (such as page views, searches, or purchases), de-codes the device used by each website visitor, and helps identify the location, race, age, and ethnicity of each user.”
The woman stated that she believes Kardashian’s company “generates a minimum of eight percent of revenues from its website,” which she alluded was aided by the invasion of its customers’ privacy.
She believes her case has backing because “privacy of personal information is and has always been a legally protected interest in many contexts.” As a result, SKIMS’ alleged invasion of privacy “inflicted both an economic injury and an intangible injury,” she says.
The aggrieved customer likened SKIMS’ actions to that levied against Mark Zuckerberg‘s Facebook in its Internet Tracking Litigation class action lawsuit.
The company has yet to respond to the lawsuit. It should be noted, that Kim Kardashian is not personally being sued alongside her company.
Kim Kardashian Credits Late Dad For Inspiring SKIMS
Back in November, the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” alum opened up about how her late father Robert Kardashian Sr. paved the way for the billion-dollar venture that is now SKIMS.
Kim, during an interview with GQ, revealed that her late father taught her all she knows about the business world. She explained that her father’s desire to always “look cool” inspired her to venture into fashion and eventually launch the famous SKIMS Men franchise.
She reminisced, “He always wanted to look cool. Diesel was one of the brands we carried. They had a cool pair of jeans. They were wax-coated. My dad’s office was really close by, so he’d always stop in. He said, ‘I have to have those.’ I got them for him. He would wear them with just a black T-shirt and a loafer.”
As for how her late father helped her business acumen, the KKW Beauty founder recalled, “My dad had me sign a contract for everything. When I got a car, I needed to have it washed once a week, make sure that it had enough gas, and that I didn’t run it into the ground. It was a gift he gave me at 16, but I had responsibilities.”
Robert, a businessman and attorney, gained widespread recognition when he served as the attorney for his close friend, O.J. Simpson, during his infamous 1994 murder trial.
Sadly, he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in July 2003 and passed away on September 30, 2003, at the age of 59.
