PayPal Venmo Privacy Lawsuit, Were You Affected? — Borquez v. PayPal, No. 5:26-cv-9340

PayPal Venmo Privacy Lawsuit — Key Facts

Lawsuit Filed	September 1, 2026
Defendant	PayPal Inc., doing business as Venmo
Alleged Harm	Sharing users’ private Venmo transaction data with third-party trackers mParticle and Kochava
Law Alleged	Electronic Communications Privacy Act, California Invasion of Privacy Act, negligence claims grounded in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the California Financial Information Privacy Act
Who Is Affected	Nationwide class (and a California subclass) of Venmo users who set an account or payment to private and whose data still reached mParticle or Kochava
Court & Case Number	U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division — Case No. 5:26-cv-9340
Current Stage	Complaint filed; PayPal has not yet responded or admitted wrongdoing
Lead Plaintiff Deadline	N/A — this is not a securities class action
Settlement Status	No settlement. No claims process exists yet
Last Updated	September 12, 2026

Who Is PayPal and Why Are They Being Sued for Sharing Private Venmo Data?

PayPal owns Venmo, the app millions of people use to split rent, pay a babysitter, or send a friend money for concert tickets. Every one of those payments creates a record: who sent it, who got it, how much, and a note describing what it was for. The lawsuit claims PayPal built tracking code from two outside companies, mParticle and Kochava, directly into that payment flow — even for users who marked their account or a specific transaction private.

What Did PayPal Do to Venmo Users Between the Alleged Dates?

Four Venmo users — Stacey Borquez, Remi Rundzio, Nathan Olson, and Lana Nava — filed the complaint on September 1 in the Northern District of California. They say Venmo told people flatly that it “does not disclose personal information to third parties for promotional or marketing purposes”, and that Venmo’s own help center promised a private payment would stay inside the app.

The complaint alleges that’s not what happened. According to the filing, mParticle and Kochava received names, email addresses, phone numbers, transaction amounts, recipients, and the notes attached to each payment — and that this happened no matter which privacy setting a user picked. That last part matters. A privacy toggle that doesn’t actually change what gets shared isn’t really a privacy toggle.

Here’s the detail that stands out. Venmo’s payment notes aren’t optional small talk — they’re often the whole point of the transaction. The complaint reportedly points to notes describing medical treatment, legal services, addiction and recovery payments, rent, gambling, and political, religious, or romantic activity. That’s not abstract “data.” That’s the kind of detail people specifically use a private setting to keep off the internet. If the allegations hold up, the setting didn’t do what it promised.

The suit names four claims: invasion of privacy, negligence tied to federal and state financial-privacy statutes, and unjust enrichment. Neither mParticle nor Kochava is a defendant in this case.

Are You Part of the PayPal Venmo Privacy Lawsuit?

Here’s exactly how to know if this case includes you.

The complaint describes the proposed class using a few specific triggers, not one broad rule:

• People who used Venmo and set their account privacy setting to private
• Anyone who marked at least one individual payment private
• Users whose name, contact details, or payment notes reportedly reached mParticle or Kochava as a result
• A California subclass covering state residents who meet the same conditions

Who’s likely outside the proposed class:

• Venmo users who never changed their privacy settings from public or friends-only
• Anyone who has already filed an individual arbitration demand against PayPal over this issue
• People whose only Venmo activity happened through a business profile rather than a personal account

Nobody outside PayPal has confirmed exactly how many users fall inside those lines yet. If you used private settings on Venmo at any point in the last several years, this lawsuit is worth paying attention to.

PayPal Venmo Users Outside California — Are You Still Covered?

Yes. The complaint proposes a nationwide class in addition to the California subclass. The federal privacy claims apply to Venmo users anywhere in the U.S.; the state-law claims add extra protection for California residents specifically. Geography isn’t the gate here — your privacy settings are.

Not sure if you qualify for the PayPal Venmo privacy lawsuit? A free consultation with a data privacy attorney can help you understand your options before the case moves further, especially if you’re weighing whether to file an individual claim instead of joining the class.

What Are PayPal Venmo Users Asking the Court to Award?

The plaintiffs are asking for damages, restitution, disgorgement of profits, a court order stopping the practice, and attorneys’ fees. No dollar figure has been attached to any of that yet, and none should be trusted if you see one floating around online. No money yet. No claim form yet.

What Could PayPal Venmo Users Receive If This Case Settles?

Nobody can answer that honestly right now. Outcomes in privacy cases like this one swing on how many people join the class, what PayPal’s internal records show about when the tracking started, and how the negotiations play out — if the case gets that far at all. A securities-fraud attorney handles Wall Street; this one calls for a data privacy attorney, and talking to one now costs nothing and locks in nothing.

What Should PayPal Venmo Users Do Right Now?

1. Don’t panic about paperwork. If a class gets certified later, most affected users are typically included automatically — there’s nothing to sign up for at this stage.
2. Hold onto your records. Save screenshots of your Venmo privacy settings history, and keep copies of any payment notes you specifically marked private.
3. Write down what the notes described, in general terms, and why it mattered to you that they stayed private — that documentation matters if you ever pursue an individual claim.
4. There’s no lead plaintiff deadline to track here — this isn’t a securities case, so that step doesn’t apply.
5. Watch the docket. The case is Borquez, et al. v. PayPal Inc., No. 5:26-cv-9340, in the Northern District of California — that’s what to search if you want the next filing yourself.
6. Talk to an attorney before assuming anything. Individual claims are sometimes worth more than a class payout, but only a data privacy attorney who’s read the actual complaint can tell you that.

That’s the whole list. It’s short on purpose — there’s genuinely nothing urgent to file yet.

PayPal Venmo Privacy Lawsuit — Full Timeline

Milestone	Date
Tracking technology allegedly embedded in Venmo	UNVERIFIED — exact start date not specified in current reporting
Complaint filed	September 1, 2026
Case first reported by legal press	September 2, 2026
PayPal’s response to the complaint	UNVERIFIED — no response filed as of this writing
Next scheduled hearing	UNVERIFIED — no hearing date set yet
Expected resolution	UNVERIFIED — too early in litigation to estimate

PayPal Venmo Privacy — Frequently Asked Questions, No. 5:26-cv-9340

Is there a class action lawsuit against PayPal for the Venmo privacy issue right now?

 Yes. Four plaintiffs filed Borquez, et al. v. PayPal Inc., No. 5:26-cv-9340, on September 1, 2026, in the Northern District of California, alleging PayPal let outside trackers see private Venmo transaction data.

Do I need to do anything right now to be part of the PayPal Venmo lawsuit?

 No. The case hasn’t reached class certification. There’s no claim form because there’s no settlement — filing anything right now would be premature and, frankly, probably a scam if someone asks you to.

When will the PayPal Venmo privacy case settle?

 There’s no way to know yet. The complaint was filed less than two weeks ago, and PayPal hasn’t responded in court. Cases like this typically take months or years before a settlement, if one happens at all.

Can I file my own lawsuit against PayPal instead of joining the class? 

Yes, that’s generally an option, though it depends on whether you’ve already agreed to arbitration in Venmo’s terms of service. A data privacy attorney can check your specific situation.

How will I find out if the PayPal Venmo lawsuit settles?

 Watch this case page — we update it when the docket moves. You can also monitor Case No. 5:26-cv-9340 directly through the Northern District of California’s court records.

What does “lead plaintiff” mean for the PayPal case, and does the deadline matter here?

 Lead plaintiff deadlines apply to securities fraud cases under federal law. This is a privacy case, not a securities case, so that deadline doesn’t apply to Borquez v. PayPal.

What specific laws does PayPal allegedly violate in the Venmo lawsuit? 

The complaint cites the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the California Invasion of Privacy Act directly, plus negligence claims built on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the California Financial Information Privacy Act.

How much could PayPal Venmo users get if this case settles? 

Nobody can say. There’s no proposed settlement fund, no per-person estimate, and no claim form. Anyone quoting you a number this early is guessing.

Sources Used in This PayPal Venmo Privacy Article

• Bloomberg Law — “PayPal Hit With Privacy Suit Over Venmo Transaction-Data Sharing,” September 2026: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/paypal-hit-with-privacy-suit-over-venmo-transaction-data-sharing
• MLex — “PayPal sued over alleged sharing of private Venmo transaction data,” September 2, 2026: https://www.mlex.com/mlex/articles/2520927/paypal-sued-over-alleged-sharing-of-private-venmo-transaction-data
• Federal Trade Commission — “PayPal Settles FTC Charges that Venmo Failed to Disclose Information to Consumers About the Ability to Transfer Funds and Privacy Settings; Violated Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act,” February 2018: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2018/02/paypal-settles-ftc-charges-venmo-failed-disclose-information-consumers-about-ability-transfer-funds

Researched and written by Israr Ahmad, legal content researcher and founder of AllAboutLawyer.com. All facts verified against Bloomberg Law and MLex reporting on the filed complaint, and against the FTC’s public record on Venmo’s prior privacy settlement, as of September 12, 2026. Last Updated: September 12, 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws vary by state and individual circumstances differ. For advice about your specific situation, consult a qualified attorney.