Cambridge Analytica Faces Facebook Privacy Lawsuit in New York
The suit filed in federal court is the latest in a nationwide wave of litigation over recent revelations the firm accessed 50 million user's information ahead of the 2016 presidential campaign.
April 02, 2018 at 05:18 PM
2 minute read
The original version of this story was published on New York Law Journal
The wave of federal litigation over Facebook users' information being purloined by a political consultancy firm working for the Trump 2016 presidential campaign arrived in New York Monday.
The lawsuit joins actions in California and New Jersey related to reports that some 50 million Facebook users had their private personal information accessed by the firm Cambridge Analytica. The firm used a personality quiz to induce 270,000 Facebook users to provide not only access to their own personal information on the site, but also to their friends.
The class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of state residents accuses Cambridge Analytica of deceptive business, false advertising, and “blatant disregard and misuse of sensitive, personal data” belonging to the class members.
According to the complaint, the firm made million of dollars off users' personal information “without their permission,” and the damages are ongoing. The information acquired from Facebook users “remains in Defendant's possession, without adequate protection, and is also in the hands of those who obtained it for political and commercial value, without class members' consent,” the complaint said.
Both the plaintiffs, Sarah Ortiz and Victor Mallh, say they were targeted with political ads during the 2016 presidential election. The complaint says it seeks to find out whether Cambridge Analytica obtained personal information improperly by misrepresenting the terms it presented to users, as well as Facebook's own privacy policy. The claims are being brought under New York's General Business Law.
Gardy & Notis attorney Meagan Farmer is lead counsel for the plaintiffs. She did not respond to a request for comment.
A representative for Cambridge Analytica could not be reached.
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