Facebook Facing Fallout Over Alleged Privacy Breaches

Over a dozen lawsuits have been filed by users and investors against Facebook after it was revealed last month that Cambridge Analytica, a political research firm, obtained personal information on millions of Facebook users. Cambridge Analytica obtained the data through a personality test app linked to Facebook accounts. Many of the lawsuits claim the information was used to create profiles and target audiences for purposes of categorizing voters in the 2016 presidential election. Most of the lawsuits accuse Facebook of failing to protect users’ personal information despite stating in its privacy policy that Facebook users own and control personal information posted on Facebook. Some of the lawsuits go beyond allegations of privacy violations and accuse Facebook of negligence, consumer fraud, unfair competition, securities fraud and racketeering. On March 16, Facebook announced that it was suspending Cambridge Analytica for violating Facebook’s policies on data gathering. 

Starting April 9, Facebook will begin alerting users whose data may have been harvested by Cambridge Analytica. As part of this process, the company plans to post a link at the top of users’ news feeds that will allow them to see which apps are connected to their Facebook accounts and what information those apps are permitted to see. Additionally, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to testify before U.S. Congress on April 10 and April 11. Zuckerberg will appear before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees on April 10 and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the morning of April 11. Zuckerberg’s testimony will hopefully shed more light into how this alleged violation occurred and its broader implications on data privacy in general.