Facebook is ordered to hand over data about thousands of apps that may have violated user privacy

A Massachusetts judge has ordered Facebook to turn over data about thousands of apps that may have mishandled its users’ personal information, rejecting the tech company’s earlier attempts to withhold the key details from state investigators. The decision amounted to a significant victory for Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey who said that Facebook users — and local watchdogs — “have a right to know” whether their privacy has been violated. Massachusetts revealed it was probing Facebook over its data-collection practices in Sept, an investigation that stemmed from the company’s entanglement with Cambridge Analytica. The court dispute centered on Facebook’s admission in 2019 that it had suspended “tens of thousands” of apps for possible privacy violations. Facebook discovered the app issues as a result of an internal audit of its third-party developers, but it declined to share — with the public or with Massachusetts officials — exactly who it had suspended or many details about their potential wrongdoings. AG Healey and her aides argued the data was critical, potentially showing that thousands of apps, some with large numbers of users, presented an elevated risk of privacy violations or behaved in a way that “may suggest data misuse,” her office said at the time. Facebook, however, fought to keep the evidence to itself, arguing it should be shielded from investigators. After months of wrangling, the attorney general’s office took the issue before a Suffolk Superior Court judge, who ruled Jan 17 that Facebook must surrender the information. Facebook now has 90 days to comply with the state’s request.