SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Facebook's parent company has transferred to federal court a lawsuit that accuses it of violating the Video Privacy Protection Act.
Plaintiff Justin Walker and his lawyers a Lynch Carpenter filed the case March 17 in San Mateo County Superior Court, and Meta Platforms removed it to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on April 20.
The case accuses Facebook of disclosing subscribers' personally identifiable information without their consent.
"The VPPA prohibits 'video tape service providers,' such as Meta, from knowingly disclosing consumers' personally identifiable information, including 'information which identifies a persona as having requested or obtained specific video materials or services from a video tape provider,' without express consent in a stand-alone consent form," the suit says.
"On Facebook, Defendant offers the Facebook Live tool whereby it broadcasts consumers’ personally identifiable viewing information, including their full names and the specific video materials or services they viewed on the Facebook Live tool such as movies, performances and other virtual events (the 'PII').
"Through the Facebook Live Tool, Facebook knowingly discloses to other third parties—specifically, other viewers of the Facebook Live Event—its consumers’ PII without their consent in violation of the VPPA."