Facebook sued over tracking members' Internet use

Two prominent Baltimore attorneys, one who is the majority owner of that city's baseball team, have filed a lawsuit against Facebook claiming the company spies on the Internet activities of members after they have logged off the social network.

The suit filed by Peter G. Angelos, chief executive officer of the Baltimore Orioles, and William "Billy" Murphy Jr. claims that Facebook's actions broke several local and national privacy laws, including the federal Wiretap Act and the California Internet Privacy Requirements Act. "The days when online service providers can run roughshod over the privacy rights of their customers are over," Murphy said. Plaintiffs Laura Maguire of Charlotte, N.C., and Christopher Simon of Baltimore are seeking class-action status to represent millions of Facebook members. The suit claims Facebook illegally used browser cookies, identified last year by Australian security blogger Nik Cubrilovic, that could track users' Internet activity even after they logged out of Facebook. The suit noted that Facebook said the tracking was inadvertent and that the company resolved the issue, but had also filed a patent for "tracking information about the activities of users of a social networking system while on another domain." The plaintiffs are also represented by San Francisco attorney Eric Gibbs.