Suing Facebook

Sunday, August 30, 2009

McDonalds sued for selling hot coffee, the burglar who sued the homeowners he was stealing from because their dog attacked him? Now Facebook, sued for the publishing of personal information that you the user submitted and posted for the public to see?

Next time you complain about Facebook’s most recent attempt to monetize their service, you can chalk it up to the expenses associated with retaining an army of lawyers to defend against the frivolous lawsuits brought against the company.

Several lawsuits have been filed against Facebook, the majority based on supposed privacy violations.  In the most recent, a group of five plaintiffs have filed a “see what sticks” suit against the company alleging a litany of violations:

Plaintiffs in the case appear to have engaged in run of the mill socializing on Facebook: sharing photos, writing status updates and similar things. They’re then complaining that privacy, copyright and other rights are violated as people look at the photos, read the updates, etc. It’s sort of like jumping into a pool and then complaining that you’re wet. …

So what are the Plantiffs accusing Facebook of? The suit alleges that that Facebook is at its core a “data mining company.. [that] seeks to open and/or disseminate private information to third parties for commercial purposes and economic benefit” and that “Facebook has created a business model and apparatus designed to harvest as much personal and private information as possible in easiest, quickest, and most innocuous-looking manner possible.” Cue the ominous music. …

In short, the Plantiffs are complaining about many of the very mechanisms that make Facebook a social network.

Facebook responded succinctly, “We see no merit to this suit and we plan to fight it.”