Meta Platforms Inc. was sued for allegedly building a secret work-around to safeguards that Apple Inc. launched last year to protect iPhone users from having their internet activity tracked. (Bloomberg)
The suit alleges the Facebook app bypasses Apple’s privacy rules by opening web links in an in-app browser, as opposed to the user’s default browser. (Adweek)
By directing users who click a link in the Facebook app to an in-app browser instead of their smartphone’s default browser, Facebook can track their internet activity—and collect personally identifiable information, private health details, text entries and other sensitive confidential facts, the lawsuits say. (USA Today)
In the lawsuit, a pair of Facebook users allege that Meta is not only violating Apple’s policies, but breaking privacy laws at the state and federal level, including the Wiretap Act, which made it illegal to intercept electronic communications without consent. Another similar complaint (Mitchell v. Meta Platforms Inc.) was filed last week. (TechCrunch)