Lawsuit: In Session Privacy Matters (Class Action Group) v. Vanguard Securities LLC [2025] FCR 36

Case Filing

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
CIVIL ACTION

Privacy Matters Collective (Class Action Group Represented by Mezimori)
Plaintiff

v.

VANGUARD SECURITIES LLC
Defendant

COMPLAINT
The Plaintiff complains against the Defendant as follows:

Privacy Matters Collective bring this action against Vanguard Securities LLC for multiple violations of the Privacy Act in connection with their Vanguard Market Access (VMA) service.
Since the launch of VMA, till 11/04/2025, Vanguard Securities LLC systematically violated privacy regulations affecting all VMA users by:

1. Falsely claiming a Privacy Policy exists when none was provided. Upon logging into VMA, users are explicitly told "By logging in, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy" (P-001), yet no Privacy Policy existed or was accessible anywhere on their platform or Discord server.

2. Deliberately misleading users about privacy disclosures. The VMA Terms of Service explicitly states that the "second part" of their documentation contains "Disclosures" that explain "how your personal information is handled by the firm" (P-004), but no such section exists.

3. Accessing and sharing users' financial information without proper disclosure or consent. VMA had access to Discover Bank account details (including account numbers and balances) as shown in exhibit P-003, despite being a legally separate entity from Vanguard National Bank as clearly shown in Vanguard's own corporate structure (P-005).

4. Denying users the ability to understand or control how their data is used. The VMA interface directly displays private banking information as evidenced in both the JSON data (P-006) and banking interface (P-002), without providing any mechanism to control this access or understand how data is being processed.

5. Failing to provide any mechanism for users to access their own information, correct errors, or submit complaints about data handling as required by law.

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I. PARTIES
1. T04DS74 (aka ToadKing) (Plaintiff)
2. Vernicia (Plaintiff)
3. FTLCEO (Plaintiff)
4. KingBOB99878 (Plaintiff)
5. lucaaasserole (aka Luca) (Plaintiff)
6. Naezaratheus (Plaintiff)
7. Nimq_ (Plaintiff)
8. bardiya_king (Plaintiff)
9. Vanguard Securities LLC (Defendant)

II. FACTS
1. Vanguard Market Access, operated by Defendant, requires users to agree to Terms of Service and a Privacy Policy upon login, stating "By logging in, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy" (P-001).

2. No Privacy Policy existed or was accessible to users, despite being explicitly referenced at login. This has been confirmed by a VMA executive who admitted: "We are working on one" (P-007).

3. Defendant's Terms of Service claimed there was a "Disclosures" section containing "how your personal information is handled by the firm," but this section does not exist (P-004).

4. Defendant has direct access to users' Discover Bank account information, including account numbers, balances, and transaction details, as evidenced by the VMA interface showing a Plaintiff's account balance of RD$50,000.00 and account number 548-775 (P-002, P-003, P-006).

5. When using Defendant's services, users were not given choices regarding account types or data sharing options as claimed in the Terms of Service.

6. Defendant and Discover Bank are separate legal entities as shown in Vanguard's corporate structure (P-005), yet share sensitive financial information without proper disclosure or consent mechanisms.

7. As defined by Executive Order 24/23, personal identifiable information (PII) is "any information related to an identifiable person". The Defendant collects PII including account numbers and balances and didn't provide users access to information about how this data is collected, stored, or shared, as evidenced by the JSON data response (P-006).

8. Defendant's Terms of Service section "Sweep Program" implied user choice between different account types and data handling options (P-004), but no such choice was provided.

9. These practices affected all VMA users in a uniform manner.

III. CLAIMS FOR RELIEF
1. Violation of Privacy Act Section 5(1)(a): Defendant failed to inform users "why personal information is being collected, how it will be used and who it will be disclosed to" despite claiming to have documentation on this topic (P-001, P-004).

2. Violation of Privacy Act Section 4(2): Defendant failed to provide access to "how private information is collected and stored" while still collecting such information (P-006).

3. Violation of Privacy Act Section 5(1)(c-e): Defendant failed to provide mechanisms for users to access their personal information, correct incorrect information, or make complaints about mishandling.

4. Violation of Privacy Act Section 9(1): Defendant used and disclosed personal information between separate legal entities without proper exceptions or user consent, as demonstrated by data sharing between VMA and Discover Bank (P-002, P-003, P-005, P-006).

IV. PRAYER FOR RELIEF
The Plaintiff seeks the following from the Defendant:

1. Compensatory damages for the Class calculated at $25,000 per Class member for improper handling and sharing of sensitive financial data;
2. Punitive damages for the Class calculated at $25,000 per Class member for deliberately misleading users by referencing non-existent privacy disclosures and policies;
3. 30% of the total case value, as provided by Section 9 of the Legal Damages Act.

EVIDENCE:








By making this submission, I agree I understand the penalties of lying in court and the fact that I am subject to perjury should I knowingly make a false statement in court.

DATED: This 11th day of April 2025