Most people know Yahoo for its early internet search engine and email service. What many do not realize is that, beginning in the mid‑2000s, Yahoo developed an advertising‑identity service that collects and aggregates data about individuals’ online activity—across both apps and websites—into a profile tied to a persistent identifier called “ConnectID.”

Yahoo’s ConnectID is designed to be permanent (i.e., it cannot be reset) and to operate outside privacy controls such as Apple’s “Ask App Not to Track” feature, enabling the company to profile individuals regardless of their device‑level privacy settings. The result is a comprehensive individual profile that Yahoo sells to advertisers so they can target users with highly specific digital ads. Critically, this profile is not limited to a user’s interactions with Yahoo; it also includes data collected from any website that integrates Yahoo’s advertising or identity services.

Major news organizations (e.g., CBS Sports, NBC News, The New York Times), retailers (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, eBay), financial institutions (e.g., Citibank, Capital One), and health‑information sites (e.g., Healthline, WebMD, Verywell Health) are believed to deploy Yahoo’s tracking technology. If you have ever encountered an ad so specific that you wondered whether your phone was listening to you, this technology may be part of the reason why.

Two lawsuits have been filed against Yahoo in New York challenging this conduct. The plaintiffs assert that Yahoo’s undisclosed collection and sale of individuals’ personal information to advertisers violates several states’ laws, including New York’s consumer‑protection statute and the California Privacy Act.

Eligibility criteria:

If you used any service incorporating Yahoo’s tracking technology—including, potentially, one of the services listed above—at any time between January 1, 2019, and the present, you may be eligible to participate in this action.

Fill out the form below if you are eligible or want to stay in the loop.