A lawsuit filed on Monday by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine asserts that Mark Zuckerberg has violated consumer rights by misrepresenting the robustness of Facebook’s data protection scheme and misusing sensitive, personal data belonging to District residents. The lawsuit makes good on a promise Racine tweeted last October about Zuckerberg’s purported involvement in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the District’s plan to take legal action against him.
This week’s 33-page complaint argues that Zuckerberg failed to protect users’ data and delayed disclosure of the truth, ultimately “help[ing] Cambridge Analytica win a United States presidential election.”
It opens by explaining that Facebook collects troves of data from its users, starting when they first sign up for an account free of charge, but in exchange for their personal data, which Facebook monetizes through the sale of targeted advertising. The complaint also details how the platform was designed to allow third-party applications to engage with Facebook consumers while simultaneously allowing those applications access to the platform’s collection of consumer data.
The filing traces the history of an app called “thisisyourdigitallife,” offering a personality quiz and the creation of a personality profile in exchange for access to some of consumer’s Facebook data.
The app’s creator reportedly harvested the personal data of more than 70 million U.S. Facebook users and sold it to Cambridge Analytica, a U.K.-based “electioneering firm.” According to the filing, politicians Ted Cruz and later Donald Trump paid the company millions to provide digital advertising services.
The case hinges on the attorney general’s theory that Facebook knew or should have known how data was being harvested and sold out from under users to manipulate elections, while simultaneously representing that users’ data was safe. The complaint further accuses Facebook of delaying disclosure until April 2018, purportedly demonstrating its preference for profit over accountability.
The complaint points to other alleged missteps including Facebook’s lack of oversight and failure to enforce its own policies with regard to third-party applications. It claims that Zuckerberg steered the ship awry and covered up the mistakes that he allegedly admitted to in the company’s “relentless pursuit to expand its reach on humanity and bring an ever-increasing number of people under its influence.”
The complaint states one claim for relief under the District’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA) and seeks restitution or damages as well as civil penalties.
Racine’s office is involved in other suits against Zuckerberg, including one brought by a Muslim advocacy group for allegedly failing to enforce Facebook’s anti-hate speech policies. In that CPPA case, Racine’s office weighed in on part of the plaintiff, whose complaint recently survived Facebook’s motion to dismiss.
