Meta Platforms Inc reached a $37.5 million settlement of a lawsuit accusing the parent of Facebook of violating users' privacy by tracking their movements through their smartphones without permission.
A preliminary settlement of the proposed class action was
filed on Monday in San Francisco federal court, and requires a judge's
approval.
It resolved claims that Facebook violated California law and
its own privacy policy by gathering data from users who turned off Location
Services on their mobile devices
The users said that while they did not want to share their
locations with Facebook, the company nevertheless inferred where they were from
their IP (internet protocol) addresses, and used that information to send them
targeted advertising.
Monday's settlement covers people in the United States who
used Facebook after Jan. 30, 2015.
Meta denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle. It did not
immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.
In June 2018, Facebook and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg
told the U.S. Congress here that the Menlo Park, California-based company uses
location data "to help advertisers reach people in particular areas."
As an example, it said users who dined at particular restaurants
might receive posts from friends who also ate there, or ads from businesses
that wanted to provide services nearby.
The lawsuit began in November 2018. Lawyers for the
plaintiffs may seek up to 30% of Monday's settlement for legal fees, settlement
papers show.
The cases is Lundy et al v Facebook Inc, U.S. District
Court, Northern District of California, No. 18-06793.
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