This firm, which allows financial apps to "authenticate" clients via their bank accounts, just settled a class action suit with fascinating claims. Among them

This firm, which allows financial apps to "authenticate" clients via their bank accounts, just settled a class action suit with fascinating claims. Among them is the accusation that Plaid used user's bank account credentials to download and harvest 5 years worth of transaction data on every user, regardless of their need for that info -- then sell it in aggregate. This was purportedly their business model. Apps using their API include Stripe and Venmo, about 200 million users in total. A couple of HN posts are mentioned in the suit(!) Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5216710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5216710 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11939103 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11939103 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17692291 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17692291 Lawsuit doc (PDF): https://angeion-public.s3.amazonaws.com/www.PlaidSettlement.com/docs/Consolidated+Amended+Class+Action+Complaint+for+Damages+and+Declaratory+and+Equitable+Relief.pdf https://angeion-public.s3.amazonaws.com/www.PlaidSettlement....