Crunchyroll Class-Action Lawsuit: Is Your Anime Viewing Data Safe?

Anime streaming giant Crunchyroll is in hot water once again over its data privacy practices. A new class-action lawsuit filed in the US Central District of California, titled Cabonios v. Crunchyroll, LLC, accuses the Sony-owned platform of secretly handing over users' private viewing habits and personal information to a third-party marketing company. The suit claims this deeply personal data was shared without explicit user consent, leaving fans logging in for the latest season drops to wonder just who else is keeping track of their streaming queues.

The core of the lawsuit points directly to the technology running behind the scenes on the Crunchyroll app. Legal filings allege that since at least 2022, Crunchyroll has embedded software development tools from a customer engagement and marketing firm called Braze. Through this integration, Crunchyroll has allegedly been knowingly transmitting sensitive user data to Braze, including email addresses, unique device IDs, and the exact titles and episodes of the anime shows being streamed.

According to the plaintiffs, this unauthorized pipeline allowed Braze to build incredibly detailed profiles of user viewing behavior. This data was then allegedly used to power targeted marketing, sending users specific in-app notifications, messages, and email campaigns based directly on what they were watching.

"The information transmitted enables Braze (and any of its clients or partners) to identify exactly what video content each specific Crunchyroll subscriber is watching. Over time, through repeated transmissions during multiple viewing sessions, the App facilitates the building of comprehensive profiles of each user’s viewing behaviour,” Plaintiff statement, Cabonios v. Crunchyroll, LLC

VPPA Violations: Why Anime Viewing Data is Protected

The lawsuit argues that this unauthorized sharing is a direct violation of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA). Originally enacted by Congress in 1988 to prevent video rental stores from disclosing customers' VHS rental histories, this pre-Internet law now serves as a primary legal shield to protect modern streaming audiences.

Under the VPPA, the disclosure of personally identifiable video rental or streaming records is strictly prohibited without the consumer's written consent, a court order, or other highly specific legal exceptions, as reported by CBR. 

The 2026 lawsuit stresses that this is a severe invasion of privacy, especially on a platform that hosts several mature titles depicting explicit violence and sexuality. Anime data can reveal deeply personal tastes that users rightfully expect to keep strictly between themselves and their screens.

$2,500 Statutory Damages per Violation

With over 130 million registered users and 17 million paid subscribers worldwide, the potential financial fallout for Crunchyroll could be massive. The plaintiffs are demanding statutory damages of $2,500 for every single VPPA violation, alongside reasonable attorney’s fees, other litigation costs, and additional punitive damages.

What makes this situation particularly glaring for the anime community is that Crunchyroll recently promised to clean up its act. In 2023, the streaming platform agreed to pay a staggering $16 million to settle a very similar VPPA lawsuit. In that previous case, Crunchyroll was accused of funneling subscriber data to tech conglomerates like Facebook and Google using online tracking tools like the Facebook Pixel. At the time of the settlement, the company agreed to refrain from such tracking practices.

As of right now, Crunchyroll has not publicly responded to the new allegations or issued a statement regarding the Cabonios case. While past streaming lawsuits often dragged on and ultimately ended in settlements, these repeated privacy issues are testing the trust of the global anime community.