​Facebook sued for alleged monitoring of users’ private messages — RT USA

​Facebook sued for alleged monitoring of users’ private messages — RT USA:

 Social media giant Facebook is being sued for the alleged monitoring of its users’ private messages in order to gather more consumer data that it in turn shares with marketers.

A federal lawsuit filed Thursday in San Jose, California alleges that Facebook traces the contents of users’ private messages, including links to other websites, "to improve its marketing algorithms and increase its ability to profit from data about Facebook users,” The Los Angeles Times reported.

A link to another site is read as a “like” of that website. The information contributes to a comprehensive profile on the user’s activity that is collected by Facebook and that eventually becomes material for targeted advertising, the lawsuit claims.

Two plaintiffs are seeking a class action suit on behalf of all Facebook users who have sent or received a private message in the past two years that contained links.