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Facebook Gets Hit With Four Lawsuits Over Cambridge Analytica Scandal (sfgate.com)

Facebook has had a terrible week. Since it was revealed that political data firm Cambridge Analytica obtained information about 50 million Facebook users, the social media company has been in damage control mode, apologizing for its mistakes and conducting forensic audits to determine exactly what happened. SFGate reports today that Facebook "has been hit with four lawsuits in federal court in San Francisco and San Jose thus far this week." From the report: One lawsuit was filed by a Facebook user who claims the Menlo Park company acted with "absolute disregard" for her personal information after allegedly representing that it wouldn't disclose the data without permission or notice. That lawsuit, filed by Lauren Price of Maryland in San Jose on Tuesday, seeks to be a class action on behalf of up to 50 million people whose data was allegedly collected from Facebook by London-based Cambridge Analytica. The lawsuit says that during the 2016 election, Price was "frequently targeted with political ads while using Facebook." It seeks financial restitution for claims of unfair business practices and negligence. Both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica are named as defendants. Cambridge Analytica also announced today that the company will undergo an independent third-party audit to determine whether it still holds any data covertly obtained from Facebook users. "We take the disturbing recent allegations of unethical practices in our non-U.S. political business very seriously," CEO Alexander Tayler writes. "The Board has launched a full and independent investigation into SCL Elections' past practices, and its findings will be shared publicly."

UPDATE: Eighteen enforcement officers have entered the Cambridge Analytica headquarters in London's West End to search the premises after the data watchdog was granted a warrant to examine its records, reports The Guardian.

20 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. hypocrites by Ritz_Just_Ritz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It was fine when Obama was mining facebook, but now worthy of being drawn and quartered.

    If it wasn't for double standards, the left would have no standards at all.

    1. Re:hypocrites by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It was fine when Obama was mining facebook, but now worthy of being drawn and quartered.

      If it wasn't for double standards, the left would have no standards at all.

      It has nothing to do with Obama and everything to do with nonsensical rage of the day. These days when the media gets a hold of anything it becomes an instant drama, regardless if it represents business as usual, has been ongoing for many years, or is just plain expected.

      Seriously a lady is suing someone for getting political advertisement on a platform that is used for advertisement. The HORROR!

      I think the problem is not red or blue, but rather that everyone has become stupider.

  2. Cambridge Analytica in damage control... by cmeans · · Score: 4, Insightful

    they've now had days to destroy/remove data from the premises. Reportedly, employees have been seen carrying boxes out of their London Headquarters after a judge was reluctant to issue a warrant immediately. Anything gathered from that location at least will likely be worthless. Smacks of a major cover-up/ass covering.

    Time for Wikileaks to get their feed on.

    1. Re:Cambridge Analytica in damage control... by jrumney · · Score: 3, Informative

      A warrant to search Emerdata would probably turn up all those boxes that were carried out in the past few days.

    2. Re:Cambridge Analytica in damage control... by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Smacks of a major cover-up/ass covering

      When someone wants you dead you don't give them an inch of rope. No sane company or person would have advanced notice of a suspected raid and NOT clean out their house.

      To the best of my knowledge I have nothing illegal here or on my PC, but if I found out that someone was asking for a warrant to seize my electronics they would find me here three days later with an Amish hat asking the police to explain what a computer or this new concept of "electricity" actually is.

  3. Ahhh, got it by Snotnose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The sheeple have finally figured out FB's business model, FB is running for the hills figuring the average sheeple has an IQ south of 100, yet being idiots, the sheeple are finally thinking FB is fucking them over big time.

    / never had a FB account
    // been warning friend/acquaintances for years about this
    /// my reward? fuck all. suxs being the prophet of doom when doom shows up
    //// Kids decided the way to keep up with the grandkids was via FB
    //// Still no FB account, see them this weekend, should be interesting

    1. Re:Ahhh, got it by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The sheeple have finally figured out FB's business model,

      The news has all been, "Facebook has made a horrible mistake," not "this is normal for Facebook." So you know, gosh darn it, they better not do it again back to browsing memes.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    2. Re:Ahhh, got it by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 2

      The sheeple have finally figured out FB's business model, FB is running for the hills figuring the average sheeple has an IQ south of 100, yet being idiots, the sheeple are finally thinking FB is fucking them over big time.

      Most people don't - or more accurately didn't -care a whole lot if they are monetized. In a ideal world, their data wold be used merely to sell them stuff. But it ain't an idealized world, and the sheer amount of money in facebook's hands, the corruption that that much money brings, and outfits like Cambridge Analytica just happy to serve and advance that corruption just made the situation inevitable. So not just the US election, but Brexit are now under scrutiny.

      Now perhaps they might find a big change in their attitude.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  4. How bad was Facebook's week? by hey! · · Score: 3, Informative

    Its market valuation dropped 75 billion dollars.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    1. Re:How bad was Facebook's week? by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2

      The whole market is just above long term support now. If it drops 1% more, it could set off a lot of algo and technical trading that could take it down another 5% in a day or two. Hopefully at that longer term support, they'll start buying again. If that longer term support broached, there is no telling where the bottom is at that point.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
  5. It is time for Stormy weather by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Informative

    Guccifer 2.0, Cambridge Anal. and Species Jumping...

    It's all coming together quite nicely. Trump lawyers heading for the exits is a good sign. Top law firms telling him, "Nah, we're good. Best of luck, Mr President". Hires a warmonger to be his new National Security Advisor. I'm old enough to remember when people said Trump hated foreign wars.

    Trump signs the Democrats' spending bill and headed to Mar-a-Lago for a week. I know what he'll be watching on TV Sunday night. Best believe Melania's got a legal team combing over the pre-nup and the NDA. Stormy's got pictures and video. Karen McDougal's got receipts. Mueller's checking off boxes.

    All this in the last three days. It seems like only last week that his third consecutive endorsee in a congressional election went down to defeat. Oh wait, it was just last week. Oh yeah, I forgot: Breitbart guys were caught on tape trying to bribe a lawyer to lie about his client. What am I forgetting?

    #WINNING

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  6. Re:apply tags by srichard25 · · Score: 2

    https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/facebook-data-scandal-trump-election-obama-2012/
    "In 2012, the Obama campaign encouraged supporters to download an Obama 2012 Facebook app that, when activated, let the campaign collect Facebook data both on users and their friends. According to a July 2012 MIT Technology Review article, when you installed the app, "it said it would grab information about my friends: their birth dates, locations, and 'likes.' ". The campaign boasted that more than a million people downloaded the app, which, given an average friend-list size of 190, means that as many as 190 million had at least some of their Facebook data vacuumed up by the Obama campaign — without their knowledge or consent."

  7. Like hogs at a trough by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 2

    Here come the class action lawyers jockeying for position. Something like this is virtually an automatic payoff for not much work.

  8. Re:apply tags by Jarwulf · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not to mention Facebook worked directly with and allowed Obama to download the ENTIRE US social media graph which Trump through CA didn't have access to. That is if you believe all the allegations whereas what obama did isn't in dispute.

  9. We need to shut down Facebook... by Blinkin1200 · · Score: 2

    We need to shut down Facebook until we can figure out what the hell is going on!

    or something like that. heard a loud orange person say something similar to that.

    I need to pop more popcorn.

  10. Re:apply tags by Narcocide · · Score: 5, Informative

    The part neither of you dick-measuring shitheads get is that this isn't about the candidates or their apps. This is about Facebook's API for apps, of which this friends-list-harvesting ability is the primary design feature. Neither of these candidates' apps did anything that can't be done by every single other facebook app. You are all just noticing now because someone finally figured out how to mix AI with all that data and turn it into an automated PSYOP SPAM machine that steals credit card information and got caught doing it.

  11. Re:Lock Him Up! by harvey+the+nerd · · Score: 2

    ha,ha - talk about empty headed conspiracy theories It's funny how all the red diaper children and grandchildren go apeshit over Russia without the Soviet Union anymore. you're A. Coward alright

  12. Re: Lock Him Up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You're honestly both retarded.

  13. The entire social network of the US by knorthern+knight · · Score: 3, Informative

    Carol Davidsen, Obama's capaign media director, at a 2015 TED TALK! (YES!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?... about what the Democrats did in 2012. They pulled in the entire Facebook social network for the USA into their database.

    The juiciest part is at 19 minutes into the talk. If you don't want to wade through the first 19 minutes, click on the following link that jumps directly to minute 19 of the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?... She mentions that Facebook gave the Democrats special treatment "because they were on our side".

    --

    I'm not repeating myself
    I'm an X window user; I'm an ex-Windows user
  14. Are you sure about that? by PeeAitchPee · · Score: 2, Informative

    The "March for our Lives" gun control march has been kept at the top of the news BY THE MEDIA for the last 30+ days. Do you think a national pro-life (anti-abortion) march would gain the same favorable coverage? Hell no . . . the only coverage it would get would be of its pink hat-wearing counter-protesters.