>Cook County is suing Facebook and Cambridge Analytica for allegedly violating an Illinois fraud law after reports that the political consulting firm used ill-gotten Facebook data in an effort to influence voter behavior.
>Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by President Donald Trump’s campaign, deceived the millions of Illinois Facebook users whose information it collected, alleges the lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court. And Facebook failed to protect its users’ privacy and misrepresented how their data would be used, the lawsuit says.
>“(Facebook) sought to keep developers building on its platform and provide companies with all the tools they need to influence and manipulate user behavior,” the suit says. “That’s because Facebook is not a social media company; it is the largest data mining operation in existence.”
>The lawsuit joins others brought against the social media giant and Cambridge Analytica in response to a report from The New York Times and The Observer of London earlier this month. The newspapers reported that Cambridge Analytica, whose U.K.-based parent SCL Group was also named in Cook County’s suit, gained access to private information of more than 50 million Facebook users, including their profiles, locations and what they like. The firm claimed its tools could analyze voters’ personalities and influence their behavior with targeted messages.
>At least five lawsuits have been filed in federal court in Northern California over the alleged misuse of user data. Those include a suit from a Facebook shareholder who is seeking class-action status, claiming he and other company shareholders have suffered losses and damages since the Cambridge Analytica news was first reported, and another from a woman seeking class-action status over Facebook and Cambridge Analytica’s alleged improper data collection.
>The Federal Trade Commission on Monday confirmed that it has opened an investigation into Facebook’s data practices, and U.K. investigators reportedly raided Cambridge Analytica’s offices in London late last week.
>Cambridge Analytica improperly acquired the information, Facebook has said, but it didn’t steal the data. Users allowed the maker of a personality quiz app to take the data. About 270,000 people took the quiz several years ago, and the app-maker was able to scrape data from their Facebook friends. He then provided the data to Cambridge Analytica.
>Still, Facebook told its users that their personal data would be protected, according to the Cook County lawsuit. It engaged in unfair and deceptive conduct when it allowed a third party to collect its users’ data, the suit alleges.
>The lawsuit, filed by Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx on behalf of the people of Illinois, brings one count each against Facebook and Cambridge Analytica for allegedly violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
>The suit asks that both companies be fined $50,000 for each violation of the law and that Cambridge Analytica be fined an additional $10,000 for each day a violation affecting an Illinois resident age 65 or older has existed.
Source: http://archive.is/hyld9
Is the end dawning for Facebook?