Meta Platforms, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, is being sued in the United Kingdom for more than £2.3 billion ($3.2 billion). Meta was accused of abusing its market position to collect and exploit the personal data of 44 million members, according to the lawsuit.
Liza Lovdahl-Gormsen, a senior adviser at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), filed the lawsuit on behalf of British people who used Facebook between 2015 and 2019.
Facebook reportedly made billions of pounds by imposing unreasonable terms and conditions on its users, according to the lawsuit. Facebook also required users to hand over sensitive personal information.
Even if Facebook is a popular social network in the United Kingdom for connecting with friends and family, Liza Lovdahl-Gormsen noted that “Yet, there was a dark side to Facebook; it misused its market dominance to impose unjust terms and conditions on regular Britons, giving it the opportunity to exploit their personal data,” the senior advisor continued.
Facebook used Facebook Pixel to acquire personal data from users, according to Lovdahl-Gormsen. The Facebook Pixel is a tool that businesses and advertisers use to track customer behaviour on Facebook.
Facebook responded that the company used Facebook Pixel because it was a useful tool and that Meta has “meaningful control over what information they disclose on its platforms and with whom.”
The action will be considered by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, and it comes just days after Facebook lost an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
To read our blog on Meta is after ‘cyber mercenary’ groups who use Facebook to spy, click here.
