By [SITE DEFAULT AUTHOR NAME]
Publication Date: 2026-04-05 11:43:00
AI search engine Perplexity has been hit with a new lawsuit that claims it shared users’ data with Google and Meta without their permission, which are also named in the complaint.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in federal court in San Francisco, claims that the tool incorporated ad trackers such as Facebook Meta Pixel, Google Ads, and Google DoubleClick into its code. These ad trackers would allegedly then gather information from website visitors and forward that information to Meta, Google, and other third parties, which would exploit that data for commercial purposes.
The court document, spotted by Ars Technica, highlights how Perplexity would encourage users to engage with its AI in an interactive dialogue. For example, it might ask a user seeking treatment for liver cancer a series of suggested questions. The tech giants could then use this data to target the cancer-suffering user with ads for alternative treatments or nearby clinics. The plaintiff, John Doe, claims that his private conversations, in which he asked Perplexity for advice on things like stock investments and retirement fund planning, were shared with Meta and Google.
The plaintiff is seeking damages of up to $5,000 per violation, and a ruling to stop Perplexity from engaging further in this type of unauthorized sharing of personal data. The complaint claimed that users’ personal data was shared even when they opted for Perplexity’s “Incognito” mode, and regardless of…
