Spyware Suit Against Aaron’s Continues, Despite Its Settlement with FTC

Attorney Maury Herman claims his clients, a Wyoming couple named Byrd, found out by chance from one of Aaron’s own franchisees that spyware had been secretly installed on the computer they’d rented, and it was collecting a lot of information about them, and other computer renters.  As Herman put it, “all manner of webcam images that you can imagine of young children and people using their computers in the privacy of their own homes.”

The Byrds went to Federal Court, suing Aaron’s, the franchisees, and the company that sells the software.  They’ve now asked the judge to declare their case a class action, which could mean damages awarded to many Aaron’s customers.  Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission had filed a complaint against Aaron’s, and on October 22^nd, the company settled that complaint, agreeing not to use monitoring technology without a consumer’s consent, while also neither admitting or denying that it ever did that.

But Maury Herman, the Byrds’ attorney, told WABE he’s going ahead with the possible class action suit, and he’ll claim the FTC settlement amounts to an admission by Aaron’s.

“We contend that they can’t consent to these things on the one hand in an FTC administrative process, and then deny these things in a civil litigation,” Herman said.

Herman hopes the judge will decide the request for class action status by the end of the year.  Aaron’s sent WABE a one-sentence statement, reading, “Due to pending litigation, we are unable to comment at this time.”