Facebook, Inc. Common Stock (NASDAQ:FB) is no stranger to accusations of infringing on privacy rights and yet the company is now fighting another lawsuit on the same matter.
The social media giant has been slapped with a new lawsuit and this time it has been accused of tapping into phone cameras to spy on users even when the cameras are not in use. The lawsuit was filed in a San Francisco-based Federal Court by an Instagram user called Brittany Conditi. She filed the case based on reports in July accusing the company of maliciously tapping into user handsets to spy on them through the cameras on their phones.
The lawsuit claims that Facebook was able to boost its advertising revenue by collecting personal and intimate data from users. The lawsuit also claims that the company has been trying to access cameras on the phones of its users even when Facebook and Instagram apps are not in use. The lawsuit claims that the social media giant may have used the alleged malicious access to cameras without approval to access the biometric data of more than 100 million users on Instagram.
Facebook claims it is not recording user data
Facebook has already responded to the lawsuit by claiming that it has not been maliciously collecting user data. The social medial giant claims that the there was a bug on its Instagram app which affected specific makes of iPhones the company claims that the bug caused the Instagram app on the affected phones to trigger notifications that the Instagram app was accessing the camera. The company also stated that it was already working on solving the issue.
Facebook has yet to comment publicly on the matter, although recent reports suggest that the company has offered a $650 settlement. It is also not clear whether the settlement will ensure payment to everyone that has been affected by the bug.