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Codebreaker

Facebook sued for violating wiretap laws

John Moe Oct 14, 2011

Weird little item in The Register about a Mississippi woman suing Facebook because, she says, Facebook’s tracking violates wiretap laws.

“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 17-page complaint stated. “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 is based on findings from researcher Nic Cubrolovic who recently found that Facebook continues to track your movements online even after you’ve logged out.
The Register says that similar suits have been filed in the past against Disney and Microsoft but often get tossed when the plaintiff can’t quantify the damages in terms of dollars.

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