Facebook sued over claims of selling user data to advertisers
A legal action has been raised in California over claims that the social network sold users’ private messages to advertisers without their consent.
Facebook says it will contest the claims
The action alleges that Facebook “misleads users into believing they have a secure, private mechanism for communication, when in fact Facebook mines user data and profits from those data by sharing them with third parties”.
The claim has been contested by a spokesman for the social network.
"We believe the allegations are without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously," the spokesman said.
Last month a US court ruled that investors could raise court action against Facebook to pursue claims that it left material information out of the public documents lodged at the stock exchange ahead of its flotation.