One of the long-debated topics of discussion is privacy protection on Facebook. The issue will soon be taken to the courts.
Two Facebook users, Michael Hurley and Matthew Campbell, filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook on December 30, 2013, alleging that the social network “systematically violates the privacy of its users by ‘reading’ personal messages sent through the site without their consent.”
The lawsuit also claims that when Facebook finds a link in a private message, clicks on the URL and if the website has the Facebook Like code installed, it automatically records that the user has “Liked” that website.
The plaintiffs are demanding that Facebook pay each class action member “$100 per day for each day of infringement or $10,000.”
The Wall Street Journal reported in 2012 that Facebook scans emails, including “Likes” on private messages. According to the WSJ, Facebook said it filters private messages for spam or to detect possible criminal activity, but promised that “no personal information is exposed.”
“The complaint is unfounded and we will vigorously defend it,” a Facebook spokesperson told the Huffington Post.
The lawsuit, however, alleges that Facebook not only filters personal messages for spam, but also harvests their data and sells it to advertisers, commercial companies and other interested parties. In 2011, the company earned $2.7 billion from targeted ad sales, according to the lawsuit.
Facebook isn't the only company accused of reading personal emails, of course. Google has also been sued for reading Gmail users' emails, without their consent, of course.
Security expert Graham Cluley recently argued that it is in our best interest for Facebook to scan our messages. “If it doesn’t scan them and check the links included, there is a very high risk of spam, scams, phishing attacks and malicious URLs designed to infect recipients’ computers with malware,” Cluley said.
