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Facebook Tracks You Even After You Log Off: Lawsuit

Two attorneys file class-action suit over tracking cookies

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 23, 2012 3:17 PM CST

(Newser) – Facebook is facing a class-action lawsuit over claims that it violated privacy laws by continuing to track users even after they logged off the site. The suit was filed by two renowned Baltimore attorneys on behalf of plaintiffs Laura Maguire and Christopher Simon, the Daily Record reports. The attorneys accuse Facebook of using tracking cookies to monitor the sites users visit. Facebook denied the allegations in a statement yesterday.

The attorneys allege that Facebook's spying violates the Federal Wiretap Act, the Federal Stored Electronic Communications Act, and the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as California's penal code and Unfair Competition Law. "We, like a lot of people, not just lawyers, are outraged by Facebook’s intentional collection of data that shocks the conscience [and by] the dossier they are keeping on all their customers," says one of the law firms' founding partners. The suit follows similar allegations against Facebook from two congressmen.

This Oct. 11, 2010 file photo, shows the logo of the online network Facebook, recorded in Munich with a magnifying glass of a computer screen of a laptop. (AP Photo/dapd, Joerg Koch)

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Facebook Tracks You Even After You Log Off: Lawsuit

Two attorneys file class-action suit over tracking cookies

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Facebook • lawsuit • Web tracking • web cookies • Facebook privacy • tracking cookies • Facebook lawsuit

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