A class action suit has been filed against Meta, claiming that its Facebook and Instagram iOS apps illegally continue to track users without permission, despite Apple’s App Tracking Transparency protections.
Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), first implemented in iOS 14, requires apps to cease tracking users unless that user explicitly allows them to continue. Meta has long objected to ATT, saying it has had an impact of more than $10 billion on its projected earnings.
Bloomberg reports that a proposed new class-action lawsuit claims that Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has been circumventing ATT and collecting data, regardless of user preferences and opt-out.
The suit, filed in San Francisco federal court, is based on research from data privacy researcher, and former Google engineer, Felix Krause, who claims that Facebook and Instagram inject JavaScript code into websites visited by users. Krause says this goes further than normal ad tracking, and instead allows Meta to track “anything you do on any website.” This could theoretically allow Meta to even capture passwords typed into websites.
The suit also alleges that Facebook opens web links in its own in-app browser, in place of using Safari or whatever browser the user has set as their default browser.
“This allows Meta to intercept, monitor, and record its users’ interactions and communications with third parties,” says the suit. The suit also says that the data is collected to boost advertising revenue, despite a user’s preferences.
Meta has not commented publicly on the suit.