Illinois county sues Facebook, Cambridge Analytica over misuse of data

Chicago’s county in Illinois is suing Facebook and Cambridge Analytica for allegedly violating Illinois law by misusing its residents’ Facebook data.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, alleges that the data firm hired by President Trump’s campaign team deceived Illinois Facebook users, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

It also argues that Facebook did nothing to protect the privacy of users.

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“(Facebook) sought to keep developers building on its platform and provide companies with all the tools they need to influence and manipulate user behavior,” the suit complaint said. “That’s because Facebook is not a social media company; it is the largest data mining operation in existence.”

The lawsuit was filed by Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx on behalf of the people of Illinois. It argues the companies violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. 

The Tribune reported the suit asks that the companies be fined $50,000 for each violation of Illinois law. 

It also asks that Cambridge Analytica be fined an additional $10,00 for each day a violation against a resident over the age of 65 was affected. 

The Illinois lawsuit is one of several filed against the two companies following the revelation that as many as 50 million Facebook users may have had their data collected and later used for voter targeting.

A Maryland woman filed a lawsuit last week over the “absolute disregard” for her personal information.

A New York professor filed a legal claim against Cambridge Analytica to try to find out what information the data firm learned about him.

The claim was filed the same day Cambridge Analytica was suspended from Facebook after reports it had not fully deleted data it obtained from Cambridge University professor Aleksandr Kogan.

A nonprofit watchdog group filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice on Monday, accusing the British data firm of violating U.S. election laws.

The Federal Trade Commission confirmed on Monday that it is investigating Facebook’s privacy practices.