On Thursday, two concerned Facebook users filed a lawsuit against the social media mammoth, alleging they violated users' privacy by scanning individual members' private messages in order to gather data to use for profit. The lawsuit, filed by Matthew Campbell and Michael Hurley in Northern District Court of California, accuses Facebook of violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and is seeking class action status.
Citing a report from a Swiss security firm called High-Tech Bridge, the suit claims your private messages on Facebook are being intercepted by the company and scanned for links that Facebook can use to create a profile you and your not-so-private messaging buddy, which they can then use to target ads to your account.
"Representing to users that the content of Facebook messages is 'private' creates an especially profitable opportunity for Facebook," the complaint reads, "because users who believe they are communicating on a service free from surveillance are likely to reveal facts about themselves that they would not reveal had they known the content was being monitored."
The suit has been brought on behalf of all Facebook members in the United States who have sent or received private messages with links in them. It seeks to stop the practice as well as recoup damages to the tune of $100 per user, per day that Facebook was in violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
A Facebook spokesperson (or "flack hacker," if you like) has fired back, telling CNET that the allegations are "without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously." Everyone else, meanwhile, just got chills remembering that time Mark Zuckerberg told everyone they shouldn't be doing private things on Facebook anyway.
