The Supreme Court on March 22 rejected an appeal from Facebook that requested the court intervene in a $15 billion class-action lawsuit that alleged the firm illegally tracked the online activities of its users when they aren’t on the platform, in violation of the federal Wiretap Act.
“Facebook’s user profiles would allegedly reveal an individual’s likes, dislikes, interests, and habits over a significant amount of time, without affording users a meaningful opportunity to control or prevent the unauthorized exploration of their private lives,” the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stated in a 2020 ruling (pdf), saying that Facebook users suffered a clear invasion of privacy.
The “Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged a clear invasion of the historically recognized right to privacy,” the court ruled at the time. “Therefore, Plaintiffs have standing to pursue their privacy claims under the Wiretap Act, [the Stored Communications Act], and [the Children’s Internet Protection Act], as well as their claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.”
On March 22, the Supreme Court denied Facebook’s appeal, meaning the suit can go forward.
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