Use Perplexity? Lawsuit Accuses It of Sharing Personal Data With Google and Meta Without Permission

April 5, 2026

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 whether they registered for a Perplexity account.

The complaint argues that the actions of Perplexity, Meta, and Google “constitute an extreme invasion” of consumers’ rights to privacy and violate both federal and California law.

“Users of interactive conversation platforms like Perplexity’s AI Machine simply do not anticipate that their confidential communications to an unauthorized third party—let alone Meta, which has a sordid history of privacy violations in pursuit of ever-increasing advertising revenue—occur without consumers’ informed consent,” read the challenge.

Perplexity and Meta have yet to officially comment on the news. However, Google told Ars Technica that “Businesses manage the data they collect and are responsible for informing users about it.

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“By default, data sent to Google Analytics for measurement does not identify individuals, we have strict policies against advertising based on sensitive information, and we don’t sell personal information,” Google’s spokesperson added.

The news comes after a judge ruled against Perplexity in a ruling last month and ordered it to block its AI agents from placing orders on Amazon without permission, though the AI firm intends to fight the decision.