Skip to content
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
Insurance Journal - Property Casualty Industry News

Featured Stories

  • Chubb Books Record P/C Underwriting Income in Q3
  • ‘Legal Siege’ Against Social Media Companies Looms
  • Articles
  • Jobs
  • Markets

Current Magazine

current magazine
  • Read Online
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • Front Page
    • National
    • International
    • Most Popular
    • Magazine
    • Forums
    • Blogs
    • Videos/Podcasts
    • Newsletters
  • News
    • Most Popular
    • National
    • International
    • East
    • Midwest
    • South Central
    • Southeast
    • West
  • Magazines
  • Research
  • Directories
  • Jobs
  • Features
    • Events
    • Forums
    • Market Directories
    • Quotes
    • Polls
    • Rankings & Awards
    • Insurance Giving Back
  • Subscribe

Judge Permits Nationwide Privacy Lawsuit Against Facebook to Proceed

By Jonathan Stempel | September 10, 2019
Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Article

A federal judge on Monday ordered Facebook Inc. to face most of a nationwide lawsuit seeking damages for letting third parties such as Cambridge Analytica access users’ private data, calling the social media company’s views on privacy “so wrong.”

While dismissing some claims, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco said users could try to hold Facebook liable under various federal and state laws for letting app developers and business partners harvest their personal data without their consent on a “widespread” basis.

He rejected Facebook’s arguments that users suffered no “tangible” harm and had no legitimate privacy interest in information they shared with friends on social media.

“Facebook’s motion to dismiss is littered with assumptions about the degree to which social media users can reasonably expect their personal information and communications to remain private,” Chhabria wrote. “Facebook’s view is so wrong.”

A Facebook spokeswoman said the company considered protecting people’s information and privacy “extremely important,” but believed its practices were consistent with its disclosures and “do not support any legal claims.”

Lesley Weaver and Derek Loeser, two of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, said in a joint statement that they were pleased with the decision, and “especially gratified that the court is respecting Facebook users’ right to privacy.”

The litigation followed a series of data privacy issues involving Menlo Park, California-based Facebook.

These included the 2015 breach that allowed Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting firm, to access data for an estimated 87 million Facebook users. That breach was not revealed until March 2018.

In their 414-page complaint, users said Facebook misled them into thinking they could keep control over personal data, when in fact it let thousands of “preferred” outsiders such as Airbnb, Lyft and Netflix gain access.

Chhabria faulted Facebook for treating privacy as an “all-or-nothing” proposition, where users would forfeit their privacy by sharing data even in a “limited” fashion.

He said Facebook had taken different positions elsewhere, including in a California case where it likened information kept on social media accounts to information stored on smartphones, where privacy concerns might be greater.

That position is “closer to the truth than the company’s assertions in this case,” Chhabria wrote. “Sharing information with your social media friends does not categorically eliminate your privacy interest in that information.”

The litigation covers Facebook users in the United States and United Kingdom whose information was shared with third parties without their consent since 2007.

The case is In re Facebook Inc Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 18-md-02843.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional Reporting by Aishwarya Nair; Editing by Dan Grebler)

Copyright 2025 Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Topics Lawsuits USA California Legislation

Was this article valuable?

Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.

Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

Mississippi Supreme Court Won’t Budge on $15M Bad-Faith Decision Against USAA
AWS Outage a ‘Moderate Incident,’ Another Near Miss for Insurance Industry
Amazon Says All Cloud Services Restored After 15-Hour Outage
All Commercial Insurance Lines Except One in ‘Soft-Market Territory’: WTW

Written By Jonathan Stempel

More From Author

Interested in Data Privacy?

Get automatic alerts for this topic.

Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Categories: National NewsTopics: Facebook Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, Facebook Privacy Litigation, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria
  • Have a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk@insurancejournal.com
More News
Why Big Oil Is Asking EPA Not to Cut its Polluter Reporting Program
GEICO Sues Medical Firms in Florida, NY Over Alleged No-Fault Auto Fraud
Big Food Readies New Strategy Against RFK Jr. Push in States
China Trade Spat Threatens Wisconsin’s ‘Napa Valley’ of Ginseng
More News Features

Read This Next

  • Judge Permits Nationwide Privacy Lawsuit Against Facebook to Proceed
  • Ex-Insurance Agent Avoids Prison for Being 'Model Cooperator' in Menendez Case
  • Swiss Re Takes a Look at Hidden Behavioral Forces Behind Skyrocketing Jury Awards
  • APCIA Chair Robusto: Industry Must Fight False Narratives, Improve Public Trust
  • Best Agency to Work For – Overall Winner: Robertson Ryan Insurance

Insurance Jobs

  • Senior Underwriter - Denver, CO ( Hybrid)
  • Business Development Representative - Remote/Pittsburgh, PA/Allentown, PA
  • Claims Manager, Insurance & Risk Management - Queens, New York
  • Regional Sales Manager - Irving, TX
  • Customer Service Agent – Personal Lines - Bethlehem, PA
MyNewMarkets
  • Death and Insurance (Not Taxes): Part One
  • AI for Agents
  • How to Attract the Next Generation to Insurance
  • 5 Evolving Trends Shaping Architects and Engineers Coverage
  • Rethinking Assault & Battery Liability in Commercial Real Estate
Claims Journal
  • Lyft Protected by Florida's 2017 Law in Driver's Miami Crash, Appeals Court Rules
  • Japanese Companies Brace for More Attacks as Cybercrimes Climb
  • Amazon Sees Faster Delivery Speeds With Hi-Tech Driver Eyeglasses, AI
  • Tesla to Recall 13,000 US Vehicles Over Battery Risk
  • Insurance Claims After AWS Outage Won't be a One-Size-Fits-All Solution
Academy of Insurance education
  • October 21 E&S Property Underwriting
  • October 23 Gotchas That'll Getchya - Latest Policy Language That'll Get You Sued
  • October 30 Challenges in Agency Mergers – Reducing Staff Flight and Avoiding E&O Claims
  • November 6 Risk and Insurance for Digital Nomads

Insurance News

  • News by Region
  • News by Topic
  • Yesterday

Site Search

Features

  • Insurance Markets Directory
  • Forums
  • A.M. Best Company Ratings
  • Industry Events
  • Agencies For Sale
  • Newswire
  • Insurance Jobs
  • Rankings & Awards

Connect with us

  • Email Newsletters
  • Magazine Subscriptions
  • For Your Website
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Do Not Sell My Info

Insurance Journal

  • Submit News
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Reprints
  • Link to Us
  • Contact Us

Wells Media Group Network

  • Insurance Journal
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
© 2025 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map