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DC Attorney General Sues Facebook Over Alleged Privacy Violations From Cambridge Analytica Scandal (washingtonpost.com)

The attorney general for the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Facebook for allowing Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy, to gain access to the names, "likes" and other personal data about tens of millions of the social site's users without their permission. From a report: The lawsuit filed by Karl Racine [PDF], confirmed Wednesday by two people familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak on record, marks the first major effort by regulators in the United States to penalize the tech giant for its entanglement with the firm. It could presage even tougher fines and other punishments still to come for Facebook as additional state and federal investigations continue.

The lawsuit comes as Facebook continues to face criticism around the world for mismanaging its users' personal information. On Friday, for example, the company admitted that some users' photos may have been improperly accessed by third-party apps. On Tuesday, new details emerged about Facebook's extensive data-sharing arrangements with corporate partners including Amazon and Spotify. The report from The New York Times quickly triggered another round of calls from Capitol Hill for the tech giant to be penalized. To that end, a person familiar with the new D.C. lawsuit said it is likely to be amended in the future to include more recent allegations of improper data collection and use.

36 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. What could be gained there? by damn_registrars · · Score: 2

    The very reason why facebook exists is to sell the personal information of its users. Cambridge Analytica wasn't a failure of the system but rather the system working exactly as designed. What could the AG have to gain by winning a lawsuit against a company that was doing exactly what they were telling their users - and customers - they were going to do?

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:What could be gained there? by ArhcAngel · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Cambridge Analytica wasn't a failure of the system but rather the system working exactly as designed.

      Exactly. I suspect FB has/had similar relationships with thousands of other businesses. It is, after all, their very business model.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    2. Re:What could be gained there? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      While against FB in general for privacy concerns, and I really feel strongly about them with reference to ALL the data they share/sell.....I have to wonder.

      IN the US, we really don't have any by the book laws passed really on privacy.

      I believe there has been rulings in the Supreme Court that privacy is somewhat protected (I think that was actually a major part of the Roe v Wade case surprisingly enough).....but really what protections do we US citizens have in law? Has FB actually broken any laws?

      We don't have the laws on a Federal Level that is in the same vein as the GDPR in Europe, and I"m guessing there's precious little on the state and local levels.

      So, while I"m all for sticking it to FB (even though people are stupid enough to willingly give so much info up on themselves), can someone cite what exact laws the broke with the Analytica and other info selling they've done and continue to do?

      I mean, so far, they've made everything to date that remotely looks like privacy law to be "opt out" rather than "opt IN" as it should be.....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    3. Re:What could be gained there? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Um, what could be gained? How about making their "business model" illegal? They weren't telling users that they were selling all their data to Cambridge Analytica or third parties.

    4. Re:What could be gained there? by neonedge · · Score: 1

      This is truly stupid. How is it that the AG is going after a company whose entire business model has been fairly transparent since day one, yet the banks, credit-card companies, student loan companies, car loan companies, and many other non-internet companies have been doing this for years?

    5. Re:What could be gained there? by Desler · · Score: 1

      Facebook? Transparent? Somone huffing glue today?

    6. Re:What could be gained there? by jon3k · · Score: 4, Informative
      https://www.theverge.com/2018/...

      As we understand it now, the data mining and analytics company, based out of London, gained access to data on as many as 50 million Facebook profiles thanks to generous data-sharing policies Facebook app developers enjoyed back in 2014. This data, which was sold to Cambridge Analytica against Facebook’s terms of service, reportedly informed the firm’s election ad targeting toolset used by the campaign of President Donald Trump and others.

    7. Re:What could be gained there? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Obviously not. Hence the lawsuit.

    8. Re:What could be gained there? by ChatHuant · · Score: 1

      The very reason why facebook exists is to sell the personal information of its users.

      If this is all they did, it would be only half sleazy (still sleazy, because they would rely on obscuring the privacy disclosures and knowing people just click through the pages of legalese). But Facebook is going full sleazy, by also tracking and selling the personal information of people who don't use their sites, via shadow profiles. People have no way to know they're being tracked, and no way to opt out.

      What could the AG have to gain by winning a lawsuit against a company that was doing exactly what they were telling their users - and customers - they were going to do?

      At the very minimum, I hope to see a decision (or, even better, a law) that forbids companies to track anybody who hasn't explicitly opted in to being tracked. Facebook, Google and the other data vampires should be allowed to keep and use only information that can be directly traced to somebody who has opted in. If, for example, somebody has my e-mail address in his Google contacts or on his Facebook account, neither company should be allowed to use, sell or disclose it to 3rd parties without my specific permission. If, for example, Slashdot tattles on my IP and activity to Google via all the calls to gstatic, google-analytics and so on, Google should not be allowed to save or use this information, because I don't have a Google account and I haven't agreed to being tracked.

      Of course, companies can make opt in a condition for using their properties: if you want to create a Facebook account, or use Google Maps, you must agree to tracking. But if you don't agree, and you don't even have accounts with them, they should not be allowed to track you.

  2. Cannot disagree at all. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The very reason why facebook exists is to sell the personal information of its users. Cambridge Analytica wasn't a failure of the system but rather the system working exactly as designed. What could the AG have to gain by winning a lawsuit against a company that was doing exactly what they were telling their users - and customers - they were going to do?

    There's all this focus on facebook and Cambridge Analytica and the Russian influence etc ..... I've seen some of the Russian ads. It was pretty lame. And the rhetoric was just eye-rolling pathetic - but I have to tell ya, as someone who lost his job because of off-shoring and H1-bs, it did sound good - I'm not gonna lie!

    IF it actually worked (I'm not so sure all that fb and CA bullshit was THAT effective ), it says more about our electorate than it does about facebook and CA.
    I mean, it did feel good. And when Democrats say shit like, "I'm gonna hold my nose and vote for Hillary." (I did so myself because I do not like what Trump or the Republicans stand for.), I CAN NOT blame anyone for voting for Trump.

    Guys, most Trump supporters I know (yeah, pls. don't lecture me samples and stats :) ) are old people who are glued to Fox News and others who really do want to go back to when "America Was Great" and are susceptible to anyone who preaches on that.

  3. Facebook doesn't sell user's data... by BringsApples · · Score: 2

    The users trade their data to Facebook, in exchange for the illusion of time spent with friends. And now that Facebook owns that data, they sell that data. This is their business model. I don't see what there is to sue about.

    --
    Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    1. Re:Facebook doesn't sell user's data... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      My business model is taking your car and stripping it for parts. I don't see why that is a problem.

    2. Re:Facebook doesn't sell user's data... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      What Facebook user signed a contract that allowed Facebook to sell all their data to CA for non-research purposes? And don't say "it was in the ToS". It wasn't and they violated a consent agreement from 2011. Hence the lawsuit.

    3. Re:Facebook doesn't sell user's data... by hmadrone · · Score: 1

      You parked your car in my garage, where posted signs clearly say that all car parts become the property of the garage owner and can be disposed of as I see fit. By parking here, you agreed to my business practices and to foot the bill for any hauling services required to get the bits I don't want off my property.

      Clear as day, right there in 2-point font in a poorly lit supply closet behind the ducts. You owe me $1249.73 for hauling away the unusable portions of your Tesla.

      Facebook presented themselves as an advertising company, not a personal data vendor. It was supposed to be tv -- you get content and engagement in return for viewing ads. Still not a great deal, but a far better one than what they actually rolled out.

    4. Re:Facebook doesn't sell user's data... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Sorry Zuck, there isn't any language in there.

    5. Re:Facebook doesn't sell user's data... by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      When you get one of those things in the mail from your local car dealer, do you scratch off the little things to see if you won? Did you win?? Did you go to the dealership to collect your winnings???

      Of course you didn't. But the same people that wouldn't fall for that car dealer shit, will fall for this Facebook shit. Why? I don't know.

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    6. Re:Facebook doesn't sell user's data... by BringsApples · · Score: 1

      You're correct! Now if only you could get as many suckers to allow you to use them like Facebook is...

      --
      Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
  4. Teach them who to help by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If this were truly an issue, it would have been done in 2012 when Obama took advantage of this info. No one cared them because the "correct" people were using it. The AG is attempting to make it clear to all companies that if you help the GOP/Trump you will be punished.
    Story

    Other examples:
    Cohen lies to Congress is a felony/ Comey, McCabe, Clapper, Brenen, Lynch, Yeats, Clinton lie to Congress no problem.
    Enquirer buries story is illegal campaign contribution to Trump/ CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NYT, WaPo don't report on Clinton taking hundreds of millions in bribes as SOS no problem.
    Trump pays off woman to be silent, impeachable issue / Congress has spent $17 million of taxpayer money in 264 cases that are similar is no problem.

    DC is a joke at this point.

  5. Alternative? by ruddk · · Score: 1

    Everyone and their parents, and even grandparents now knows that Facebook is awful. But are there a real alternative?
    I am not going to join Facebook again.

  6. Re:Search and seizure (yeah its a stretch) by Rob+Y. · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The court jumped head first into a purely political issue rather than allowing voters and legislatures decide it through the political process.

    Well, if you think requiring someone to carry a pregnancy to term because some people's religions insist that a fertilized egg is deserving of personhood is a 'purely political issue', then I guess you have a point. You're wrong, but in your warped universe, you're at least consistent. If you don't think that, then you're just wrong.

    --
    Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
  7. Lying to Congress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Is lying to Congress a crime?
    Clapper lied to congress and wasn't charged.
    Eric Holder lied to congress and wasn't charged.
    Hillary Clinton lied to congress and wasn't charged.

    However...
    Michael Cohen did get charged for lying to Congress.

    With selective prosecution like this, I think being an associate to Trump is a crime but lying to Congress is not. This is what tinpot dictators do. Pass laws that make everyone a criminal and only prosecute those you don't like. Its called a dictatorship, and is run by the DNC not Trump.

    Vote Tyranny, vote DNC.

    1. Re:Lying to Congress? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hillary

      Nope. The article says Chaffetz and Goodlatte want to investigate to see if Clinton lied.

      Ok so with the precedent set by Mueller, shouldn't there be a special prosecutor assigned to investigate any and all lies from the Hillary team? Or does that only happen with Trump associates?

      Eric Holder lies are far from an opinion piece

      Clapper

      That’s what James Clapper did on March 12, 2013, while testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

      That day, Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, asked Clapper for a yes or no answer to the following question: “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?”

      “No, sir,” Clapper replied.

      Wyden, who appeared taken aback by the answer, tried again: “It does not?”

      “Not wittingly,” Clapper responded. “There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps, collect, but not wittingly.”

      Three months later, on June 5, 2013, The Guardian newspaper began publishing a series of reports about the NSA based on documents stolen from the agency by Edward Snowden that proved Clapper had perjured himself.

      Days after The Guardian’s bombshell report, Clapper told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell that he had responded in “what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful, manner.”

      Three weeks later, under increasing pressure, Clapper wrote a letter to the senators on the committee, apologizing for providing a “clearly erroneous” answer. He also changed his story, jettisoning the excuse he had tried to answer in the “least untruthful” manner, and instead claimed the reason he had misled Congress is that he had “forgotten” about Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which covered the NSA’s bulk collection of metadata.

      So Clapper's lie is excused because he "forgot" about the law, but the same option is never given to a Trump associate?

  8. Force them to do better disclosure by rsilvergun · · Score: 3, Interesting

    which would turn off a lot of users. Also make it so that every political Advert is very clearly labeled as such.

    Finally, the GOP and CA had a major voter suppression campaign run through Facebook where they run attack pieces on Hilary targeted to specific users to suppress the black vote. A variety of civil rights laws make this practice of dubious legality (though IANAL so it might get past a jury). But the bad press from it coming out would be enough to stop the practice.

    And it's definitely something worth stopping. Whether you like Hilary or not targeted voter suppression drives do not add to our nation's political discourse, they subtract from it. I'd like to say "That goes for both sides" but as far as I can tell this was a uniquely GOP/CA thing. And I know it's not popular to call one side out, but I calls it like it is.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  9. 9th amendment by hmadrone · · Score: 1

    Roe Vs Wade wasn't a 4th amendment case; it was a 9th amendment case. The right to privacy is fundamental, and one that stretches back to the common law the underlies the Constitution. Reproductive and medical decisions are fundamental to human beings, and the state has no business inserting itself in the process. The Roe vs Wade decision protects a lot more than a woman's right to make reproductive choices; it also protects our rights to make other family and medical decisions.

  10. Rsilvergun is an idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yet you calling people a bigot if they plan to vote for Trump isn't an attempt at voter suppression?
    I think you might be right, and should be prosecuted for voter suppression. Give me your contact details so I can report you to the FEC for prosecution.

    If you think my comment is stupid, it is, it was an attempt to point out how stupid rsilvergun is ONCE AGAIN.

  11. Rsilvergun doubles down on stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yep, playing unedited videos of your political opponent is voter suppression.
    This is what he just claimed.

    Congratulations, you have surpassed creimer as the /. village idiot. Just when I think progressives can't get dumber, one of them proves me wrong.

    1. Re:Rsilvergun doubles down on stupid by DarkOx · · Score: 1

      You are right A/C. I had not even spotted that angle of it. Wish I could up mod you insightful but I am commenting on this story.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  12. Re:Not exactly by DarkOx · · Score: 1

    And that is the difference: in one case you're making an argument about why you shouldn't vote for Trump and should in fact for for Hilary. In other case you're just focusing on getting the Blacks to not vote. It's a subtle difference but it's real. There's no attempt at discussing policy even as a background. CA was just trying to say "Don't Vote". Not, "Vote this way" but "Don't vote".

    That's voter suppression. That's the difference and the genius of CA's approach. It's a whole new type of politicking. You're no longer making arguments, your just trying to game the system. It's an "end justifies the means" form of politics, and it's why everything CA did makes us so uneasy. Again, the genius is that it's hard to put your finger on why what they did was so bad because at first glance it looks like politics as usual. It's not.

    No it is absolutely politics as usual. Literally as long as there have been campaigns attempts have been made to convince one group their issue/candidate has no chance they might as well just stay home. Its been done news paper editorials, carefully timed polling, carefully worded polling and then reworded reporting of the results, calling elections before all the votes are cast and a host of other methods..

    The only thing different is CA did it slightly better and "with a computer"

    --
    Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  13. Does anyone here remember BIX? by charliemerritt03 · · Score: 1

    Byte (magazine) Information Exchange

    That was "Social Media"
    That was fun.
    That was informative.

    And it cost - money - to belong. Not a lot of money, but the members paid for the service.
    We were the users, clients - Byte was the service provider, Bix was the service.
    Clear as a bell.
    Also there was Delphi and several others.
    (even AOL?)

    Then there were 'hidden cost' services like a college account and USNET.

    Why put up with Farce Book?

  14. That's better than Blackmun's reasoning by raymorris · · Score: 2

    I'm impressed. Your reasoning is better than the reasoning SCOTUS uses. It makes more sense, IMHO. I'm not being facetious, I think your ninth amendment argument is better than the fourth amendment reasoning (with either being applied to the states via the 14th).

    However, the ninth begins "the enumeration of certain rights may not". One cannot Constitutionally say "because the Constitution affirms this right, it takes away this other right". The ninth would shoot down that argument. Nobody is making that argument, so the ninth has no effect. Nobody says "because you have the right to free speech, you don't have the right to kill babies". They say you don't have the right to kill babies simply because you don't, nothing in all of human history in any way suggests that's a right, until Roe v Wade magically appeared it. Obviously the pro-abortion people say that the offspring of two people isn't quite a person, so abortion isn't exactly "killing babies".

    That's an argument they can make. The first question is whether abortion is "killing babies". The Constitution doesn't answer that question. It's not a question about the Constitution, it's an opinion question, a political question.

    What few people think about is the obvious follow up to "is abortion killing babies?". Assume the answer is "no, not exactly, here's the difference between abortion and killing babies ....". If we all agreed on that, we'd then have an agreement on why abortion isn't quite the same thing as killing babies. The state has a legitimate interest in making Jay walking illegal, they have the power to do that. Do they not have the power to make "not quite killing babies" illegal?

    1. Re:That's better than Blackmun's reasoning by hmadrone · · Score: 2

      There's a continuum from human germ cells (sperm and ovum), to a baby who can survive outside the womb. A blastocyst is different from an embryo is different from a fetus. Where do you want to draw the line? Some people want to draw it back at the level of sperm, and say that male masturbation is essentially murder. Others draw it at birth itself.

      If you want to criminalize the removal of a blastocyst or an embryo, then you might as well criminalize all non-reproductive uses of semen. Biologically, blastocysts and embryos are much closer to germ cells than they are to a living, breathing baby.

      Having had children and miscarriages myself, the idea of abortion nauseates me, but I am also aware that pregnancy is too heavy a burden to be borne unconsenting.

      I have supported friends who discovered that their much-wanted children had defects incompatible with life. People in such a terrible situation need all their medical options on the table, including late termination. If you discover your child has anencephaly or Potter's syndrome and that there's nothing ahead for them outside the womb except pain and death, you don't need anyone telling you what to do. You need compassion so that you can make the best decision for your family, including a late termination if that seems least awful for all involved.

      The state should keep its snout out of our private lives, and there is no aspect of our lives more private than reproductive health care.

      We should own our personal data, too. Using it without our consent violates our inherent intellectual property rights in ourselves.

  15. Re:Easy way they could've avoided the lawsuit by arbiter1 · · Score: 1

    As people say that Clinton and the pioneers of the tactic Barrack Obama got off Scott free while doing same thing and no one got mad.

  16. Thanks for that by raymorris · · Score: 2

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate it. It sounds like you've thought about and you have good reasons you'd vote to allow abortion, though of course others may come to a different conclusion about when exactly human life begins.

    I note with your latest post, we've switched to a different topic. You've very effectively expressed why you would vote for liberal abortion laws in your state, which is a very different question of whether the text of the US Constitution says you're not allowed to have a vote.

    > I am also aware that pregnancy is too heavy a burden to be borne unconsenting.

    This is the one statement I'd take issue with. Rarely are we talking about "unconsenting". In the vast majority of cases they copulated *on purpose*, not only with consent, but they took the guy home, took of their clothes, etc, in a deliberate effort to take the actions which they know will likely result in pregnancy after a few tries. So they didn't just consent to someone else doing it, they actively did it themselves.

  17. Re:Search and seizure (yeah its a stretch) by LiquidAvatar · · Score: 1

    Well, if you think requiring someone to carry a pregnancy to term because some people's religions insist that a fertilized egg is deserving of personhood is a 'purely political issue', then I guess you have a point. You're wrong, but in your warped universe, you're at least consistent. If you don't think that, then you're just wrong.

    You must be an awesome guest at dinner parties...

    Host: Can you believe that ref at the ball game last night?
    You: Yeah, he must be one of those idiots who believes that abortions is only a women's health issue!

    Do you want to introduce any other highly contentious issues into this discussion about data privacy? Maybe about how vaccines cause autism or about how we all need to lead clean vegan lifestyles?

    --
    It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.
    -Voltaire
  18. Re:Search and seizure (yeah its a stretch) by sysrammer · · Score: 2

    Do you want to introduce any other highly contentious issues into this discussion about data privacy?

    I prefer vi.

    --
    His ignorance covered the whole earth like a blanket, and there was hardly a hole in it anywhere. - Mark Twain
  19. Murder isn't a religious thing by raymorris · · Score: 2

    I'm not sure why you're bringing up religion. Murder isn't a religious issue.

    On abortion, there are three groups of people:

    People who think it's murder (and therefore very much should be illegal).

    People who think it's not exactly murder. ("Not quite murder is still pretty bad, a heck of a lot worse than jaywalking, which is illegal).

    People who think it's perfectly fine, because it's not quite murder. They can't explain why "almost murder" is okay, while slapping someone should be illegal).