(Newswire.net — December 27, 2014) — Facebook is analyzing its user’s habits by scanning their messages and posts. That is how marketers know who to target with their advertising campaigns and messages. This surfaced in December 2013 when Lead plaintiff Matthew Campbell and two others sued Facebook, alleging the company scanned user messages for web links, and ‘Likes’, then used data to target advertising.
“Facebook’s practice of scanning the content of these messages violates the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA also referred to as the Wiretap Act), as well as California’s Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), and section 17200 of California’s Business and Professions Code,” the plaintiffs said.
A few days before Christmas, US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton denied Facebook’s motion to dismiss the ECPA and CIPA section 631 claims. The judge, however, granted dismissal of claims pertaining to section 632 of the CIPA and section 17200 of the California Business & Professions Code, according to Tech Times.
Explaining his ruling, Judge Hamilton said Facebook “has not offered a sufficient explanation of how the challenged practice falls within the ordinary course of its business.”
Facebook defends the rights to analyze its user’s profiles as they agreed to terms of service. The court, however, said Facebook’s terms of service is too vague to surmise whether users ultimately consented to the company’s analysis of their private messages for advertising uses.
According to Courthouse News, Facebook in an October motion hearing claims it has right to analyze user messages in order to protect users from spam and viruses.
Judge Hamilton, however, wrote on Tuesday, “The fact that Facebook can configure its code to scan message content for certain purposes, but not for others, leaves open the possibility that the challenged practice constitutes a separate ‘interception,’” according to Reuters.
Reuters asked for comment, however, neither Facebook nor attorneys for the plaintiffs responded.
Other internet giants Yahoo, EarthLink and Googled Gmail have faced similar lawsuits. Some unconfirmed Facebook posts are circling that Facebook users should expect $10k each, if social network giant is pronounced guilty of the charges.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Facebook is fighting off a class action lawsuit filed in August, which claims Facebook violated users’ privacy by cooperating with the National Security Agency’s PRISM surveillance program.