Earlier this year, I wrote about the class action lawsuits filed against major online course providers Including Udemy, 2U/edX, and Coursera. These lawsuits centered around allegations that the companies violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by sharing users’ video viewing history and personal information with third parties like Meta through tracking tools such as the Meta Pixel.

Similar lawsuits—around 60 in total—have been brought against a range of industries, including healthcare, retail, media, and education, for allegedly using Meta Pixel to disclose sensitive user data without consent, according to ClassAction.org.

Recently, Udemy and Coursera released their latest quarterly reports (10-Qs), shedding new light on these legal battles.

Coursera’s Update

In their latest filing, Coursera revealed that in August 2024, they agreed in principle to settle a class action lawsuit filed against them in November 2023. The lawsuit accused Coursera of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by allegedly sharing users’ video viewing history without proper consent. While they didn’t disclose the exact settlement amount, Coursera mentioned they’ve set aside $8.12 million related to these matters.

Additionally, Coursera disclosed that law firms representing about 30,000 claimants have threatened to file or have filed individual arbitration demands with similar allegations. In October 2024, Coursera settled claims with around 7,300 of these individuals and is currently in settlement talks with most of the others.

It appears these claimants are being gathered through ClassAction.org. According to Coursera’s page on the site, there’s no guarantee that claims will succeed or how much compensation claimants might receive. However, the VPPA allows companies to be held liable for $2,500 per violation.

Coursera states that they dispute the claims and plan to defend themselves vigorously. They’ve also noted that while they have insurance policies that might cover some of these claims, there’s no guarantee of coverage.

Udemy’s Update

Udemy is facing a similar situation. In December 2022, a class action complaint was filed against them, alleging violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA). The case was moved to individual arbitration in March 2024.

Additionally, several law firms have threatened to file individual arbitration demands on behalf of about 20,000 Udemy users with similar claims. So far, Udemy has resolved claims with approximately 6,000 users for an immaterial amount and is preparing to defend against the rest.