The news
A Supreme Court judge on Thursday dismissed a privacy case brought against Meta by the District of Columbia, which had accused the company of misleading consumers by inappropriately sharing their data with third parties, including British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.
The decision was a rare win for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, as it battles lawsuits brought by the federal government, states, foreign regulators and consumers over privacy, antitrust and consumer protection disputes.
Judge Maurice A. Ross of the Superior Court for the District of Columbia said Facebook’s policy had made it clear how third parties could obtain data “so that a reasonable consumer cannot be misled” under the district’s consumer protection law.
The district’s then-Attorney General, Karl Racine, filed the lawsuit in 2018 following revelations that Cambridge Analytica obtained data from tens of millions of Facebook users — including those in the District of Columbia — without their consent. Mr. Racine accused Facebook of violating the county law.
But Judge Ross said Facebook had not only adequately informed users about how to share data with third parties, but also provided instructions on how to limit data sharing. He added that Facebook had taken sufficient steps to investigate Cambridge Analytica and notify users after press reports emerged about the activity.
“While the district may not agree with Facebook’s approach to the situation, there is no legal basis that requires Facebook to act otherwise,” Judge Ross said. “Facebook has not materially misled consumers regarding their response to Cambridge Analytica.”
A spokesman for the District of Columbia Attorney General’s office, Gabriel Shoglow-Rubenstein, said in a statement: “We respectfully disagree with the court’s decision and are considering all of our options.”
Meta declined to comment.
Why it matters: This was a rare victory in a controversy that continues to haunt Meta.
Meta faces legal challenges around the world. The company has faced criticism and criticism for its handling of disinformation, privacy and competition. Partly to shift the story of Meta, the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has tried to shift focus to the so-called metaverse, which is a virtual reality space, and artificial intelligence.
The District of Columbia’s lawsuit dismissal stands out not only against that backdrop, but also because it marks a rare victory in one of Meta’s most enduring challenges: the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal, which exposed how Facebook’s user data can leak and to spread.
Lawmakers and regulators around the world have criticized Facebook’s handling of user data after the problems with Cambridge Analytica came to light. In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5 billion for data privacy abuses related to the scandal. Last December, Meta agreed to a $750 million settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing the company of sharing data with third parties, including Cambridge Analytica. Last month, a Delaware judge rejected Facebook’s bid to file a lawsuit brought by shareholders over Cambridge Analytica’s use of data.
Background: Cambridge Analytica revealed Facebook’s privacy concerns.
In 2010, Facebook started a program called Open Graph, which gave developers access to the social network’s data. Thousands of companies and researchers made use of the programme.
One of the researchers was Aleksandr Kogan, who in 2013 created a quiz app for Facebook users that collected data about users and their connections on Facebook for psychological profiling.
In 2018, news reports revealed that Mr Kogan had given the Facebook data of a whopping 87 million users to Cambridge Analytica, which used the information to build political profiles for campaign voter targeting. Facebook’s privacy practices and data usage by other parties were not well understood at the time. The Cambridge Analytica revelations showed just how far Facebook user data could travel.
