The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear Facebook’s appeal of a ruling that found the tech giant violated federal privacy laws by failing to adequately inform users of the risks to their personal data. The case stems from the period between 2013 and 2015, when Facebook allowed third-party apps to access user data without meaningful consent, contrary to Canadian privacy law.
In 2023, a Federal Court initially ruled in Facebook’s favor, but the decision was overturned in September 2024 by the Federal Court of Appeal. The appellate court found that Facebook, now operating under Meta Platforms, failed to supervise the millions of apps it invited onto its platform and that the lower court erred in overlooking critical evidence.
The case relates to a 2019 investigation triggered by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which a quiz app, This is Your Digital Life, harvested data from hundreds of thousands of users and millions of their Facebook friends. That data was later used by third parties, including political firms, without users’ explicit consent.
Privacy commissioners concluded that Facebook breached the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) by not obtaining valid consent and failing to implement adequate safeguards.
Facebook, disputing these findings, argued that the Court of Appeal overly fixated on its privacy policy and ignored its broader efforts to secure user consent. The Supreme Court gave no reasons for accepting the case, consistent with its standard procedure.
This high-profile legal battle could set a precedent for how Canadian privacy law is interpreted in the age of global digital platforms.
Swifteradio.com
