Woman sues Facebook, Cambridge Analytica for misuse of personal data

A Maryland woman has sued Facebook and Cambridge Analytica alleging improper use of her personal information to create ads during the 2016 presidential election.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Lauren Price sued the companies over “the absolute disregard with which Defendants have chosen to treat Plaintiff’s Personal Information,” BuzzFeed reported.

Cambridge Analytica, a data firm used by President Trump’s campaign, reportedly collected data on nearly 50 million Facebook users and then used it for voter targeting.

{mosads} “Facebook, for its part, knew this improper data aggregation was occurring and failed to stop it,” according to a complaint filed in federal court in northern California.

Price is looking to pursue the class action lawsuit against the companies for “failing to protect the privacy of its consumers,” her attorney John Yanchunis told BuzzFeed News. 

“I find this reprehensible,” Yanchunis said. 

Former Cambridge Analytica researcher Aleksandr Kogan blew the whistle this week about the millions of records the U.K-based company pledged to delete but didn’t. 

In a statement on Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the company “made mistakes” and pledged to make changes to the company’s data collection processes. 

Zuckerberg said they’ve opened an internal investigation but notably did not apologize for the scandal.

U.S. and U.K politicians are calling on Zuckerberg to publicly testify about what happened. 

Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating the Trump campaign’s links to the global data firm. 

Cambridge Analytica CEO Alexander Nix was suspended by the firm’s board of directors on Tuesday, pending a “full, independent investigation,” after a video surfaced of him discussing using bribes and prostitutes to sway political elections. 

Updated at 5:56 p.m.