Data Broker Radaris Loses Domains in Privacy Lawsuit
A New Jersey court has ordered the transfer of Radaris.com and over a dozen other data broker domains to plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging violations of the state's Daniel's Law.
The consumer data broker Radaris.com has been stripped of its domains, including its primary website, following a protracted legal battle over alleged violations of New Jersey's Daniel's Law. The law empowers state law enforcement and government officials to demand the removal of their personal information from data broker sites. Radaris, known for its persistent non-compliance with such requests, faced a judicial order transferring its domains to the plaintiffs after engaging in extensive delaying tactics and obfuscation.
This legal action stems from a lawsuit filed in February 2024 by Atlas Data Privacy Corp, which has been actively pursuing data brokers accused of violating Daniel's Law. The statute mandates that companies remove personal information of designated officials upon request, with penalties of $1,000 per violation for non-compliance. Radaris's failure to adhere to these provisions, coupled with its alleged use of a fictitious CEO and shifting corporate structures to obscure ownership, ultimately led to the severe penalty of domain forfeiture.
Previous reporting by KrebsOnSecurity highlighted the company's co-founders, Russian-born brothers Igor and Dmitry Lubarsky, who operate a vast network of people-search and dating services. The Lubarsky brothers' legal team initially threatened defamation lawsuits and denied ownership, claiming Ukrainian operators were responsible. However, subsequent investigations, including admissions from Radaris's own attorney, Val Gurvits, confirmed the use of a fabricated CEO pseudonym, "Gary Norden," and the dissemination of press releases quoting this non-existent figure to attract investors.
Attorneys for Radaris repeatedly attempted to delay court proceedings, employing a strategy of "island-hopping" through various offshore entities in jurisdictions like the Marshall Islands and the British Virgin Islands. This tactic aimed to shift responsibility and complicate legal service, with new corporate entities appearing and disappearing as judgments loomed. Despite these efforts, the court found that the defendants had been given ample opportunity to defend themselves and had failed to do so.
This is not the first time Radaris has faced domain seizure. In 2017, a similar class-action lawsuit resulted in a default judgment, and the court ordered Verisign to transfer the radaris.com domain. However, an appeal by Mr. Gurvits, arguing that the lawsuit had not named the true owners (a Cyprus company called Bitseller Expert Limited), temporarily halted the transfer. The operator subsequently changed to Andtop Company, an entity formed in the Marshall Islands, and the plaintiffs did not refile.
The current legal team for Atlas, PEM Law, acknowledged the difficulty in recovering funds from foreign actors but emphasized their commitment to removing the threat Radaris posed to New Jersey law enforcement and public officials. The judge's final order on August 26 underscored the defendants' repeated failures to appear and defend the claims, leading to the decisive ruling.
The forfeiture of Radaris's domains represents a significant victory for privacy advocates and law enforcement officials targeted by aggressive data brokers. It also serves as a stark warning to companies that engage in deceptive practices and deliberately obstruct legal processes designed to protect personal information.