Saturday, May 19, 2012

Facebook hit with $15 billion class action user tracking lawsuit...

Facebook is being sued for $15 billion for tracking users, even after they have logged out of the social network, and violating federal wiretap laws. If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is: Facebook faces nationwide class action tracking cookie lawsuit.

Today’s lawsuit, filed in Federal Court in San Jose, California, combines 21 separate cases across the U.S. in 2011 and early 2012. It’s an amended consolidated class-action complaint that claims the company is invading the privacy of its users by tracking them across the Internet. If the claimants are successful in their case against Facebook, they could prevent Menlo Park from collecting the huge amount of data it collects about its users to serve ads back to them.

Like the previous lawsuits, Facebook is once again being accused of violating the Federal Wiretap Act, which provides statutory damages per user of $100 per day per violation, up to a maximum per user of $10,000. The complaint also asserts claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, various California Statutes, and California common law. It’s worth noting that similar cases against Facebook and others filed under the wiretap law have been thrown out because browser cookies are simply not considered wiretaps and plaintiffs have difficulty proving any harm. Full story...

Related posts:
  1. Poll shows most users distrust Facebook...
  2. How Facebook is tracking you...
  3. Facebook sued for tracking users' information...
  4. Facebook admits to tracking cookie, says it was a "mistake." Really?
  5. Facebook, apps and You. The battle to own your data...
  6. Facebook spies on phone users’ text messages, report says...
  7. Facebook accused of tracking users ... even after account is cancelled.

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