Perplexity AI Faces Class-Action Lawsuit Over Alleged User Data Sharing

A Utah resident, filing as John Doe, launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against Perplexity AI Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and Alphabet Inc.'s Google in a San Francisco federal court. The complaint alleges that Perplexity embedded undetectable tracking software into its code to transmit full transcripts of user conversations—including sensitive health, financial, and legal data—to Meta and Google. These transmissions reportedly occurred even when users enabled incognito mode, with data sent via full-string URLs containing prompts and email addresses.

The lawsuit claims that Meta and Google exploited this data for targeted advertising and resale, violating federal and state computer privacy and fraud laws, as well as California's wiretapping statute. The plaintiff asserts that Perplexity received analytic and marketing tools in exchange for this data. The suit seeks an injunction to stop the tracking and damages for a nationwide class of non-paying users who interacted with the service between December 7, 2022, and February 4, 2026.

Chief Communications Officer Jesse Dwyer stated that Perplexity had not been served with a lawsuit matching the description and therefore could not verify the claims. A spokesperson for Meta referenced company rules that prohibit advertisers from sending sensitive information to the company. Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.