Facebook Allegedly Violating U.S. Wiretap Statutes

According to an article on The Register, a Mississippi woman filed a lawsuit on Wednesday alleging Facebook of breach of contract, unjust enrichment, trespassing and invasion of privacy. She alleges that by Facebook tracking her internet browsing history after she logs out of their service, they are violating federal wiretap statutes. From the complaint:

“Leading up to September 23, 2011, Facebook tracked, collected, and stored its users’ wire or electronic communications, including but not limited to portions of their internet browsing history even when the users were not logged-in to Facebook,” the 17-page complaint stated. “Plaintiff did not give consent or otherwise authorize Facebook to intercept, track, collect, and store her wire or electronic communications, including but not limited to her internet browsing history when not logged-in to Facebook.”

We talked about Facebook’s questionable user tracking process before as well as the government and privacy groups requesting the FTC to investigate these claims. This latest addition to the Facebook privacy scandal now brings civil legal action which could grow to class-action status.