A company that's desperate to achieve profitability for survival will do anything to achieve it, sometimes taking illegal measures. Today, Perplexity is being accused of secretly sharing user conversations with Meta and Google through hidden tracking tools embedded in its search engine. A proposed class action was filed March 31 in federal court in San Francisco. Here's the breakdown: > The complaint alleges that tracking tools are installed on users' devices as soon as they land on Perplexity's homepage, without knowledge or consent > Those trackers allegedly give Meta and Google access to the full content of conversations between users and Perplexity's AI search engine > The tracking reportedly works even when users opt for Perplexity's Incognito mode > The named plaintiff shared highly sensitive information with Perplexity, including family finances, tax obligations, and personal investment strategies > Meta and Google are named as co-defendants for allegedly violating federal and state privacy and fraud laws > The complaint accuses all three companies of exploiting sensitive data for advertising and reselling it to additional third parties > Perplexity spokesperson Jesse Dwyer told Bloomberg the company had not been served and stated "We do not share user data with Meta or Google" > Meta pointed to a Facebook help page saying it's against their rules for advertisers to send sensitive information. Google has not responded publicly. > This is different from Perplexity's previous lawsuits around scraping and copyright. This one is about user privacy inside the product itself.
