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The Department Of Justice Is Suing Facebook

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Facebook Wednesday morning, saying the company violated an order prohibiting it from misrepresenting how it handles user data.

The DOJ first started investigating Facebook in 2012, after discovering that Facebook was sharing data on a user’s friends after the user downloaded third-party apps. Facebook added a disclaimer warning users that their information could be shared with app developers, but removed it four months later, in violation of the order. Now the DOJ is seeking civil penalties against the tech giant.

“This action seeks to hold Facebook accountable for its failure to protect consumers’ privacy as required by the 2012 Order and the FTC Act,” the Department of Justice wrote in its lawsuit. “Facebook also failed to maintain a reasonable privacy program that safeguarded the privacy, confidentiality, and integrity of user information, as required by Part IV of the 2012 Order.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Facebook did not vet third-party app developers before granting them access to users’ information. They also failed to disclose the full extent of the data sharing to consumers on the site.

The day before filing the lawsuit, the Department of Justice announced it was launching a new anti-trust investigation into Facebook and other tech giants.

“Without the discipline of meaningful market-based competition, digital platforms may act in ways that are not responsive to consumer demands,” the Department of Justice said in a statement about the probe. “The Department’s antitrust review will explore these important issues.”