U.S. regulators sue Facebook over Cambridge Analytica scandal

“Nine months after a whistleblower revealed Facebook had allowed outsiders to improperly access personal information about millions of its users, the social media giant faced its first major rebuke from regulators in the United States — a lawsuit filed by the attorney general of the District of Columbia,” Tony Romm, Brian Fung, Aaron C. Davis, and Craig Timberg report for The Washington Post. “The lawsuit from Karl Racine on Wednesday targeted Facebook mainly for its entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that harvested names, ‘likes’ and other data from the social site without users’ permission.”
“The opening salvo from the D.C. attorney general ended a protracted silence on the part of many U.S. regulators, who have faced immense pressure — from members of Congress and average web users — to discipline Facebook for what many see as a reckless disregard for online privacy,” Romm, Fung, Davis, and Timberg report. “Some of Silicon Valley’s toughest critics have urged the government to slap Facebook with severe fines and other penalties that might force it to rethink a business model that monetizes the most intimate details of consumers’ lives.”
“‘Facebook’s lax oversight of its privacy protocols and confusing privacy settings put the personal information of millions of Americans at risk,’ Racine said,” Romm, Fung, Davis, and Timberg report. “The D.C. lawsuit also took issue with other business practices at Facebook, including its relationships with device-makers such as BlackBerry that could access social data in ways that could ‘override’ a user’s privacy settings, according to the complaint.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Good. More lawsuits, please. Many more!
If Facebook disappeared tomorrow, the world would be a better place.
If you haven’t already (as if you haven’t seen more than enough), as we’ve been advising for years: #DeleteFaceBook!
As we wrote last May, “If you trust Mark Zuckerberg to be the keeper of your photos, contacts, political views, religious beliefs, etc., you’re batshit insane.”
Instant messages sent by Mark Zuckerberg during Facebook’s early days, reported by Business Insider in May 2010:
Zuckerberg: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuckerberg: Just ask
Zuckerberg: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend’s Name]: What? How’d you manage that one?
Zuckerberg: People just submitted it.
Zuckerberg: I don’t know why.
Zuckerberg: They “trust me”
Zuckerberg: Dumb fucks
SEE ALSO:
For years, Facebook gave other tech firms more intrusive access to users’ personal data than it has disclosed – December 19, 2018
Walt Mossberg quits Facebook – December 18, 2018
UK lawmakers publish internal Facebook emails that reveal use of free iOS ‘spyware’ VPN and more – December 5, 2018
Don’t share photos to Facebook, use Apple’s secure and private iCloud instead – November 20, 2018
Sleazy Facebook’s top execs ‘make tobacco executives look like Mr. Rogers’ – November 16, 2018
Tim Berners-Lee: Facebook and Google may need to be broken up – November 1, 2018
Apple CEO Cook says companies are weaponizing our personal data, and he’s right – October 26, 2018
Apple CEO Cook promotes privacy as ‘fundamental human right’ via tweetstorm; asks ‘What kind of world do we want to live in?’ – October 24, 2018
CNN interview: Apple CEO Cook believes data collection by the likes of Google and Facebook has crossed the line – October 24, 2018
Video of data privacy keynote address from Apple CEO Cook – October 24, 2018
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FBI investigating Facebook security breach where attackers accessed 30 million users’ personal information – October 12, 2018
Google exposed user data, did not disclose to public fearing repercussions – October 10, 2018
After trying and failing to hide the issue, Alphabet pulls plug on Google+ after bug exposes data from up to 500,000 users – October 8, 2018
Facebook discovers security breach affecting 50 million users – September 28, 2018
Facebook is giving advertisers access to users’ shadow contact information – September 27, 2018
42% of U.S. users have ‘taken a break’ from Facebook; 28% have deleted the Facebook app in the past year – September 5, 2018
Researchers find Google harvests more data from Android – and Apple iOS – users than most people think – August 21, 2018
Google hit with lawsuit accusing them of tracking phone users regardless of privacy settings – August 20, 2018
Google tracks users movements even when explicitly told not to – Associated Press – August 13, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg loses $16 billion in record Facebook fall – July 26, 2018
Facebook stock plunges as users vanish – July 25, 2018
Apple highlights user privacy as Facebook exec steps down – June 14, 2018
The 18 things you may not realize Facebook knows about you: Firm reveals the extent of its spying in a 454-page document to U.S. Congress – June 12, 2018
Facebook confirms sharing users’ personal data with Chinese companies – June 6, 2018
Apple’s macOS Mojave removes integration with third-party internet accounts like Facebook – June 6, 2018
Apple borks Facebook’s pervasive personal data-harvesting operation – June 5, 2018
Apple requested ‘zero’ personal data in deals with Facebook – CEO Tim Cook – June 5, 2018
Facebook CEO blasts Apple’s latest privacy protections as ‘cute virtue signaling’ – June 5, 2018