Facebook California class actions A giant thumbs-up button marks the entrance to the Facebook campus at 1601 Willow Road in Menlo Park, California. Photo: Jason Doiy/Law.com
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California is quickly becoming home to a fight over data collection between big tech and consumers, a number of which have found their way into the courts.

Latest among them are two separate class action lawsuits filed against Facebook on Thursday over perceived violations of user privacy. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, both complaints are demanding jury trial, alleging that Facebook's sharing of users' data with third parties, particularly mobile device makers, without user consent. In both instances, violations of privacy were brought under California's Constitutional Right to Privacy.

The first complaint, filed by Tycko & Zavareei partner Sabita Soneji, focuses specifically on the company sharing data with “third-party mobile device makers” such as Apple and Samsung despite using practices—like the creation of a login and password—that lead users to believe they can “lock the door to prevent third parties' access to their information.”

Here's the full complaint by Tycko & Zavareei:

The complaint also accuses Facebook of going to great lengths to push users to believe that their “personal information is kept secure,” including from those with which it's sharing data, which is part of ongoing violations of user rights.

The lead plaintiff in the suit, Oakland resident Velma Serina Rankins, accuses Facebook of sharing her information with “nearly 60 device makers” sans her consent, and claims she suffered damages because of such. The class counts all “persons in the United States” with Facebook accounts utilizing privacy settings and accessing said accounts via mobile devices between Aug. 30, 2015, and April 19, 2018, excluding Facebook “officers, agents and employees.” In addition to violations of California residents' constitutional right to privacy, the complaint marks violation of the Stored Communications Act and trespassing to personal property among its nine charges.

Filed by plaintiffs attorney Joshua Watson of the Arnold Law Firm, the second complaint follows suit, charging Facebook over data sharing with mobile device makers. Attorneys from Morgan & Morgan, Abbott Law Group P.A. and the Hannon Law Firm are representing the class, which the complaint names as “all natural persons residing in the United States who registered for Facebook accounts” and had their data shared with device manufacturers.” California resident Susan Hwang, who “owned and used a Facebook account on her mobile device for over five years” and didn't consent to providing mobile device makers access to her data, is listed as lead plaintiff.

Big tech's data collection practices have come under much judicial heat in recent months. Facebook itself was hit with a multidistrict litigation over its sharing of user data with Cambridge Analytica without user consent. Meanwhile, Google was recently hit with a class action complaint over its data collection practices “against the express wishes and expectations of its users.”

Read the second complaint here: