New Mexico jury finds Facebook liable in privacy case

A New Mexico jury found Facebook liable for violating the state’s Unfair Practices Act in connection with its privacy protections and handling of user data, leaving a judge to decide the financial penalty. State attorneys asked for the maximum penalty of $5,000 per violation, but no amount has been set. Reports of the verdict put the violation total at more than 40 million, with one account specifying more than 43 million. The figures have been described differently, and the supplied accounts do not establish whether they cover identical categories. One report separately says jurors found more than two million violations related to statements about investigations into data brokers. The case centered on allegations that Facebook failed to protect users’ information from a third-party personality quiz. State attorneys said the quiz harvested data from roughly 87 million profiles and supplied it to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm that used the information to generate targeted advertisements. The firm’s clients included Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. These details were presented as the state’s account of the case.