Credit Bureaus & Data Brokers · People-search site · Private litigation
Whitepages
Headline
Whitepages has been sued twice over using people's names in free 'teaser' profiles that advertise its paid Premium reports.
Not independently verified. Verification status: Unverified - heuristic first draft. Publish state: draft unverified.
Whitepages has been sued twice over using people's names in free 'teaser' profiles that advertise its paid Premium reports. The first, Butler v. Whitepages, No. 19-cv-4871 (N.D. Ill.), settled in 2022 for about $4.07 million to Illinois and Ohio residents under state right-of-publicity laws, with Whitepages denying wrongdoing. The second is a September 2024 class action in the W.D. Wash. alleging the same practice under Washington, California, Illinois and Ohio law. Its status as of Oct 2026 was not verified.
- Severity
- Evidence tierUnassigned
- Claims confirmed
- Last verified2026-10-16
Case status. Private litigation; the legal tier of its sources has not been assigned yet.
Primary source. topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/closed-settlements/whitepages-com-personal-information-in-ads-4-1m-class-action-settlement/ — Unverified - heuristic first draft.
Terms
Arbitration
Not verified this pass (whitepages.com blocked automated fetch).
Data sharing
CA 2026 registry filing (self-reported): minors = No; precise geolocation = No; federal government = No; law enforcement = No; FCRA = No. 2025 volumes it reported: 5,879 deletion requests (5,697 complied, 182 denied) and 34,722 opt-outs (33,747 complied, 975 denied). Business model (per the 2024 complaint as reported): free preview profiles built from names, addresses and job details and optimized for search engines to sell Premium subscriptions.
Fees and billing
Subscription (Whitepages Premium). Pricing and auto-renewal terms not verified this pass.
Contacts
Privacy contact. legal@whitepages.com; 206-746-5409 (CA registry filing)
Legal notice. 2033 6th Ave, Suite 1100, Seattle, WA 98121 (CA registry filing). Not verified this pass beyond the address the company gave in its California data broker registration (see sources). Registered agent: check the Secretary of State of the state of formation.
Mailing address. Not recorded.
Evidence
No claims have been itemized for this row yet.
Sources
| Source | Claim | Tier | Status | Quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal news (settlement notice summary) · 2022-07-14 topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/closed-settlements/whitepages-com-personal-information-in-ads-4-1m-class-action-settlement/ | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “Whitepages.com denies any wrongdoing in the face of the residents' claims” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| News · 2024-09-06 www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattle-based-whitepagescom-faces-legal-action-over-unauthorized-use-personal-information/DXLF55BHZFCARP6DAFUL2YS37U | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “The class-action suit was filed Thursday in the Western District of Washington.” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| Court opinion (seen in search results only) · 2026-10-16 govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-ilnd-1_19-cv-04871/pdf/USCOURTS-ilnd-1_19-cv-04871-1.pdf | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “USCOURTS ilnd 1 19 cv 04871 1” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| Regulator registry (CSV) · 2026-07-29 cppa.ca.gov/data_broker_registry/registry.csv | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “Whitepages, Inc | https://www.whitepages.com | legal@whitepages.com | 2067465409 | 2033 6th Ave, Suite 1100 | Seattle | WA” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| Regulator registry (CSV, AG-era) · 2020-02-12 cppa.ca.gov/data_broker_registry/complete-reg-data-brokers.csv | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “Whitepages, Inc. | http://www.whitepages.com | 2/12/2020” Quote basis: not recorded. |
| Regulator registry page (CalPrivacy/CPPA) · 2026-07-29 cppa.ca.gov/data_broker_registry/ | whole row | Unassigned | confirmed | “Data brokers are required to begin processing these requests on August 1, 2026.” Quote basis: not recorded. |
Source vault
Link status: Candidate - not yet fetched
| Document | Last fetch | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy policy https://www.whitepages.com/privacy | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Terms of service No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | NOT CONFIRMED |
| Website https://www.whitepages.com | Not fetched yet | — |
| Primary source https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/closed-settlements/whitepages-com-personal-information-in-ads-4-1m-class-action-settlement/ Verification: Unverified - heuristic first draft | Not fetched yet | — |
Enforcement
No enforcement actions are linked to this row.
State statute
No comprehensive state privacy statute on file for WA