{"id":4450,"date":"2014-01-07T12:30:12","date_gmt":"2014-01-07T17:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=4450"},"modified":"2014-01-07T12:30:12","modified_gmt":"2014-01-07T17:30:12","slug":"facebook-sued-for-allegedly-reading-private-messages-and-selling-data-to-advertisers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/01\/07\/facebook-sued-for-allegedly-reading-private-messages-and-selling-data-to-advertisers\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook sued for allegedly reading private messages and selling data to advertisers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Two Facebook users have filed a lawsuit against the social networking giant claiming the site violates the Electronic Communications Privacy Act in addition to California privacy and unfair competition laws by reading private messages sent between users and sharing key data with advertisers, marketers and other data aggregators.<\/p>\n

Michael Hurley and Matthew Campbell filed the lawsuit on December 30 in a U.S. district court in Northern California. The suit also alleges that Facebook scans messages for URLs and when a link is found, it\u2019s essentially clicked. If the destination has a Facebook \u201cLike\u201d button, it\u2019s registered as a \u201cLike.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs want to suit to be made into a class action lawsuit and believe that up to 166 million Facebook member could be eligible to join in. The suit seeks up to $100 a day for each violation or $10,000 total for each user affected.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Facebook has been in hot water over private message privacy concerns. In 20012, the Wall Street Journal ran a story that essentially covered the same topic. Facebook at the time said their computers do analyze messages but only to filter spam and detect chatter that might be related to criminal activities.<\/p>\n

Facebook isn\u2019t the only company that\u2019s come under fire for allegedly reading users\u2019 messages as Google, LinkedIn and Yahoo have all faced privacy complaints in recent memory.<\/p>\n

As for the lawsuit, a Facebook spokesperson told the Huffington Post that the complaint is without merit and they will defend themselves vigorously.<\/p>\n

via Facebook sued for allegedly reading private messages and selling data to advertisers – TechSpot<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Facebook users have filed a lawsuit against the social networking giant claiming the site violates the Electronic Communications Privacy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[347,604,849,851],"class_list":["post-4450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-social-media","tag-facebook","tag-lawsuit","tag-privacy","tag-private-messages"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-19M","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7070,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/12\/11\/comcast-slapped-with-class-action-lawsuit-for-turning-customers-routers-into-public-hotspots\/","url_meta":{"origin":4450,"position":0},"title":"Comcast slapped with class-action lawsuit for turning customers’ routers into public hotspots","author":"NCCT","date":"December 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Comcast\u2019s controversial decision to transform its customers\u2019 wireless routers into public Wi-Fi hotspots has, predictably, landed the company in even more hot water. A pair of disgruntled customers recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the cable, television and Internet provider in San Francisco. Toyer Grear and Joycelyn Harris claim Comcast\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Networking"","block_context":{"text":"Networking","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/networking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3094,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/08\/01\/report-facebook-looking-to-implement-tv-style-ads-directly-in-users-feeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":4450,"position":1},"title":"Report: Facebook looking to implement TV-style ads directly in users' feeds","author":"NCCT","date":"August 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Good news everyone! All the complaining surrounding Facebook, its UI and its ads has finally had an effect on the company and they\u2019ve started listening to feedback and making changes. And by that we mean Facebook won\u2019t change anything and it will just serve you more intrusive ads. Yes you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social Media"","block_context":{"text":"Social Media","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/social-media\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/facebook-ad-640x462.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/facebook-ad-640x462.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/facebook-ad-640x462.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8845,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2016\/02\/22\/reports-claim-that-facebook-will-soon-introduce-ads-inside-messenger\/","url_meta":{"origin":4450,"position":2},"title":"Reports claim that Facebook will soon introduce ads inside Messenger","author":"NCCT","date":"February 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By Rob Thubron | Tech Spot Facebook\u2019s incredibly popular Messenger service will introduce ads inside the platform sometime within next few months, according to a report from TechCrunch. A document obtained by the site says that businesses will be able to send advertisements as messages, but only to those users\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social Media"","block_context":{"text":"Social Media","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/social-media\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6892,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/11\/19\/att-kills-the-permacookie-stops-tracking-customers-internet-usage-for-now\/","url_meta":{"origin":4450,"position":3},"title":"AT&T kills the ‘permacookie,’ stops tracking customers’ Internet usage (for now)","author":"NCCT","date":"November 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In recent weeks, Verizon and AT&T have been caught up in a privacy firestorm over their use of so-called \u201cpermacookies,\u201d a method of tracking what their users do while browsing the Web with the intent of sharing that data with advertisers. Verizon\u2019s permacookie program lives on, but AT&T has ceased\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Security"","block_context":{"text":"Security","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/security\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9372,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/07\/05\/this-week-in-tech-673-the-prozac-dash-button\/","url_meta":{"origin":4450,"position":4},"title":"This Week in Tech 673: The Prozac Dash Button","author":"NCCT","date":"July 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Wp3QiDVJwdA Reinventing Microsoft, Amazon\u2019s push into healthcare, new Apple Maps, and more. --Apple vs Samsung settled: our long international nightmare is over. --A proposed US law has patent trolls jumping for joy. --Amazon jumps into the healthcare business by buying online pharmacy PillPack. --Foxcon's new Wisconsin plant breaks ground. --Yet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Wp3QiDVJwdA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8046,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/04\/16\/att-but-not-verizon-and-comcast-sue-fcc-over-net-neutrality\/","url_meta":{"origin":4450,"position":5},"title":"AT&T, but not Verizon and Comcast, sue FCC over net neutrality","author":"NCCT","date":"April 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Out of the many lawsuits filed this week against the Federal Communications Commission, just one came from a major Internet service provider: AT&T. AT&T made no secret of its opposition to the FCC's net neutrality order, but it was reported last month that trade groups rather than individual ISPs would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Technology"","block_context":{"text":"Technology","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/att-logo-300x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}