Business litigation case dismissed by judge in California

Does Facebook track California residents' or others' online activities even after they've logged out of their Facebook accounts? A District judge says he does not think so, thus dismissing recent business litigation regarding the matter. It is not the first lawsuit of its kind that someone has brought against the social network empire.

In this particular case, the plaintiffs claimed Facebook has been violating federal privacy and wiretapping laws. Their claim stated that Facebook tracked its subscribers by leaving cookies on their browsers when they visit online websites that also happen to have "like" buttons for Facebook. The judge noted that internet users have the capability to keep their browsing histories private; therefore, there is no evidence that Facebook used illegal means to intercept their online communications.

The judge also said there was no apparent economic harm or loss to the plaintiffs. The same judge dismissed a similar lawsuit a couple years ago. With more people using advanced technology than ever, there are bound to be other lawsuits in the future regarding internet privacy and intellectual property issues, such as copyright infringement.

Every business litigation situation in California does not involve high net worth enterprises like Facebook. However, even those facing challenges on a much more minor scale of business are entitled to pursue justice if a breach of contract or other business-related problem arises. In all such situations, it often helps to retain experienced legal representation from a business and commercial law attorney before heading to court.

Source: businessinsider.com, "A judge threw out a lawsuit alleging Facebook tracks logged out users because there was no 'realistic' economic harm", July 3, 2017