(Online Dating Industry Journal) A proposed settlement for a class action lawsuit filed against Yahoo! Personals in 2005 could bring changes to the service that give users more control over their profile. The proposed Terms of Settlement are as follows:
1. To the extent that they are not already in place, no later than 30 days after Final Approval of the Settlement, Yahoo! will take the following actions, which shall remain in force and effect for a period of two (2) years from the date of Final Approval of this Settlement by the Court:
(a) Yahoo! will maintain the "Report a Complaint" link on the profile detail pages appearing on the Yahoo! Personals website.
(b) Profiles that have been inactive for a period of 120 days shall be rendered unsearchable by Yahoo! and Yahoo! shall include this notification in its Additional Terms of Service relating to Yahoo! Personals.
(c) When a user of Yahoo! Personals cancels his or her subscription, a screen will be presented to the user giving the user the option to delete the profile, render the profile unsearchable or keep the profile active. If the user makes no selection, the profile will automatically be deactivated.
(d) Yahoo! will maintain mechanisms in place to detect duplicative photographs, abusive language and the revelation of improper personal information.
(e) Yahoo! will update its Additional Terms of Service relating to Yahoo! Personals to inform its users that that they may see profiles or other content which they feel were created by third parties, contrary to obligations in the applicable terms of services, guidelines and code of conduct, for purposes other than dating, including spam and commercial profiles.
(f) Yahoo! will modify its Additional Terms of Service relating to Yahoo! Personals to include disclosures regarding searchable Yahoo!-created test profiles, if any, that may be used when necessary to ensure service quality. The modifications will disclose how searchable test profiles, if any, are designated so that they are readily identifiable to users.
(g) Yahoo! may make additional changes to its site content, site functionality and Terms of Service in its sole discretion that do not substantially lessen the effectiveness of the changes listed above within the two-year period that this provision remains in effect.
2. Under the Settlement, an eligible Class Member who was a paid subscriber to Yahoo! Personals between October 1, 2004 and August 3, 2007, and who viewed a profile during his or her subscription period that he or she believes was posted for purposes other than dating, is eligible to receive a one-time payment of up to $35.00. If you are an eligible Class Member and wish to receive this benefit, you must timely submit a Claim Form to the Claims Administrator as described above.
The lawsuit was originally filed in October 2005, alleging breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, and misrepresentation, among other things. The allegations stem from the plaintiffs belief that profiles were posted on Yahoo! Personals for purposes other than dating appeared on the Yahoo! Personals website. To this day, Yahoo! Personals denies all the allegations of the lawsuit, even though it is participating in the settlement to avoid long litigation.
If approved, Yahoo! Personals will contribute $4 million to the settlement fund, in which the money will come out to pay former eligible Yahoo! subscribers $35.
You can read more about the original lawsuit here (from November 2005).
Joe's Comments
The problem with Yahoo! Personals settling is that it could open the door to more class action lawsuits in the future. If you are truly innocent, fight it, and win (even if it costs more to do so), then it sends a message that you are serious about defending yourself. Either way, the changes in the settlement are good ones for online daters. Hopefully other sites will follow suit, particularly when it comes to purging old profiles.
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