Facebook privacy breach trial ends in settlement

On the second day of the trial, which was due to begin at the Delaware court where Meta Platforms Inc. (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is based, the shareholders’ lawyer announced in court the agreement with the plaintiffs. However, no details were disclosed regarding the terms of the aforementioned.

The trial was expected to last eight days, featuring Zuckerberg and the company’s former COO, Sheryl Sandberg, as well as current and former board members as witnesses.

The case against Meta began after it was revealed that the British company Cambridge Analytica had used an app to collect the data of millions of Facebook users without their consent for political purposes.

They allegedly used this data to create psychological profiles of voters to then sell them to the campaign of the current United States President, Donald Trump, during the 2016 elections, which he won.

This scandal brought Meta to the attention of regulators worldwide.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined Facebook a five billion dollar penalty for violating a 2012 agreement that required it to protect users’ data.

Subsequently, Meta Platforms shareholders sued Zuckerberg and other senior company officials, demanding reimbursement of the money paid to the FTC and other legal expenses, estimated at around eight billion dollars.

“Despite repeated promises to its billions of users worldwide that they could control how their personal information is shared, Facebook undermined consumers’ choices,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons.

Judge Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick congratulated the parties on the agreement, the terms of which will be made public in the final court documents. EFE

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