Class-action lawsuit against Zynga for privacy breach
US Facebook user argues Farmville dev illegally gave data to marketers
A Minnesota Facebook user has filed a class-action lawsuit against Farmville firm Zynga, claiming it was complicit in the recent privacy breach on the social network.
Nancy Graf is alleging that Zynga illegally shared the identities of 218 million players with advertising firms, contravening both Facebook and federal rules.
The suit seeks damages for all those whose details were allegedly leaked to advertisers, and injunctive relief against similar incidents.
"We believe that the complaint is without merit and we intend to defend against it vigorously," was Zynga's official response.
Claimed one of Graf's lawyers, Michael Aschenbrener of Edelson McGuire LLC, "This appears to be another example of an online company failing the American public with empty promises to respect individual privacy rights."
Aschenbrener, together with the suit's other lead attorney Kassra Nassiri of Nassiri & Jung LLP, are also pursuing a privacy case against Facebook, regarding its own alleged sharing of user details with advertisers.