Case tracker

Data privacy & misuse lawsuits & cases

Unauthorized harvesting, sharing, or misuse of personal data — from quiz-app scraping to deceptive privacy practices and regulatory privacy enforcement.

3 tracked cases

• Regulatory action

  Fine 2018; settled Oct 2019

  UK ICO v. Facebook (Cambridge Analytica fine)

  Meta/Facebook · United Kingdom

  The UK ICO fined Facebook £500,000 (the maximum under the pre-GDPR Data Protection Act 1998) for failing to safeguard users’ personal information and for lack of transparency in connection with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. After initially appealing, Facebook agreed to pay the fine in an October 2019 settlement without admitting liability.

• Settled

  Settled Jul 24, 2019 ($5B)

  FTC v. Facebook, Inc. ($5 billion privacy settlement)

  Meta/Facebook · United States (federal)

  The FTC imposed a record $5 billion penalty on Facebook to settle charges that it violated a 2012 FTC order by deceiving users about their ability to control the privacy of their personal information — a matter brought into focus by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The settlement imposed sweeping new privacy restrictions, independent third-party assessments, and 20 years of compliance monitoring. It was the largest privacy penalty ever assessed by the U.S. government at the time.

• Regulatory action

  Action 2019

  FTC v. Cambridge Analytica, LLC

  Cambridge Analytica (data harvested from Facebook) · United States (federal)

  The FTC filed an administrative complaint against Cambridge Analytica and settled with its former CEO and an app developer over the deceptive harvesting of personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users via a personality-quiz app, which was used for voter profiling. The action was part of the FTC’s broader response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Informational summaries compiled from public sources cited on each case page. Not legal advice. Verify current status with primary sources.