A judge ruled Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and other former directors of the social-media company must face claims they turned a blind eye to rampant privacy violations, including allowing a firm hired by Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to collect data on millions of users.
Delaware Chancery Court Judge Travis Laster concluded Wednesday that alleged conflicts-of-interest meant Facebook’s board couldn’t be trusted to properly investigate claims the company repeatedly violated promises to protect users’ personal information.
Facebook directors either “affirmatively went along with” improper behavior or ignored it, the judge said in an oral ruling.
The privacy suits by investors were tied to a record $5 billion fine officials of Facebook — now a unit of Meta Platforms Inc. — paid the US government to resolve a privacy probe tied to a 2018 revelation about its business with Cambridge Analytica, a consulting firm hired by Trump.
The government investigation stemmed from evidence Cambridge improperly obtained data on tens of millions of Facebook users from a researcher who collected personal data through a third-party quiz app. The app not only collected its users’ data, but also information on their friends, affecting millions of consumers.
An internal review by Facebook later determined at least 50 million user accounts were improperly harvested by Cambridge, according to investors’ court filings.
The case is IN RE Facebook Derivative Litigation, 2018-0307, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington)
Photo: Photographer: Tiffany Hagler-Geard/Bloomberg
Topics Lawsuits
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