Facebook Faces Historic Class Action Lawsuit from Rhode Islander

Facebook Faces Historic Class Action Lawsuit from Rhode Islander

A Providence attorney has filed a class action lawsuit against Facebook, claiming that the largest social networking Web site in the world is sharing personal information with third-party Web sites without the informed consent of users.

Facebook in April launched a new tool that shares personal information with Pandora, Yelp, and docs.com. Facebook users are automatically opted in—without ever being informed or asked, according to Providence attorney Peter Wasylyk, who filed the class action suit on behalf of East Providence resident Derrick Rose.

In the suit, Wasylyk alleges that the settings for the new personal information tool violate the privacy of users and that the Web site acted without “good faith and fair dealing” in its contract with users.

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Potentially any information posted on Facebook could be shared with these sites, according to Wasylyk. He said the information was also being used by advertisers to sell their products to individuals on Facebook. “When does it end in terms of what personal information will be released to the public?” Wasylyk said.                                                                                                         

With 100 million Facebook users in the country, according to Wasylyk, the class action suit could become one of the largest in U.S. history. It could also set a precedent for Internet privacy rights on the Internet, Wasylyk said.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Providence last Friday. Wasylyk said his client was asking for injunctive relief, forcing Facebook to change how it shares personal information, ensuring that consumers have to opt-in, rather than opt-out. He is also seeking an unspecified amount of monetary damages.