Security News > 2020 > October > Google Safari Workaround case inspires campaign to sue Facebook in UK's High Court over Cambridge Analytica app
A campaign to sue Facebook over lax privacy policies that allowed Cambridge Analytica to slurp almost a million people's personal data from the social networking website hopes to become a representative action in the High Court, its instigators said today.
The campaign said in a statement: "In 2013 and 2014, thousands of people participated in the thisisyourdigitallife app on Facebook. Facebook allowed this app to harvest the data of the app users' friends without their friends' permission or knowledge, including Alvin Carpio, the representative claimant. By taking data without consent, it is alleged that Facebook failed to meet their legal obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.".
The thisisyourdigitallife app was created by Cambridge Analytica as a data-harvesting exercise, as reported last year when Facebook paid a £500,000 fine to the Information Commissioner's Office while, bizarrely, not admitting liability or guilt.
The fine provided the legal hook for Facebook You Owe Us. Using Richard Lloyd's so far successful case, the idea is to claim on behalf of "Almost a million" people said to be affected by Facebook allowing the Cambridge Analytica app to operate.
The Register understands the campaign is at the earliest stage of taking legal action; namely, sending Facebook a pre-action protocol letter notifying the US company that it intends to sue.