Facebook is being sued for violating wiretapping laws.
A Mississippi woman has accused Facebook of violating federal wiretap statutes by tracking her internet browsing history even when she wasn't logged onto the social networking site.
In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in the northern district of Mississippi, Brooke Rutledge of Lafayette County, Mississippi, also asserted claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, trespassing, and invasion of privacy.
Rutledge of Mississippi has joined a growing number of Facebook users who are suing the social networking giant over allegations that it violates federal wiretap laws. Facebook may not be a phone company, but it has been accused multiple times of using cookies to track users even after they log out of the service. Palo Alto has since twice denied the allegations, and has also twice fixed the issue. In addition to this one, several similar lawsuits have been filed in other states, including Kansas, Kentucky, and Louisiana.
“Leading up to September 23, 2011, Facebook tracked, collected, and stored its users’ wire or electronic communications, including but not limited to portions of their internet browsing history even when the users were not logged-in to Facebook,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff did not give consent or otherwise authorize Facebook to intercept, track, collect, and store her wire or electronic communications, including but not limited to her internet browsing history when not logged-in to Facebook.”
The complaint claims the behavior violated provisions of Facebook's own privacy policy that state: “If you're logged out or don't have a Facebook account and visit a website with the Like button or another social plugin, your browser sends us a more limited set of information. For example, because you're not logged in to Facebook, we don't receive your User ID.”
Also this week, former Louisiana Attorney General Richard Ieyoub filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Facebook user Janet Seamon. The allegations were almost identical: the social networking giant is accused of collecting and storing users’ Internet browsing history without their permission. Ieyoub is asking a judge to certify the lawsuit as a class action. It seeks unspecified punitive damages and statutory damages of $100 for each day that each class members’ data was “wrongfully obtained” or $10,000 for each alleged violation.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/facebook-sued-for-violating-wiretap-laws-with-tracking-cookies/4687