Facebook Sued For Letting Social Ads Use Minors Without Consent

Facebook has been hit with a class-action lawsuit for failing to get parental permission before using minors in its social ads, according to Bloomberg.

These social ads, launched in 2007, can use the names and pictures of a user's Facebook friends to show that they "liked" an ad in the sidebar. These "liked" ads can appear on a Facebook page, or in friends' news feeds. The same mechanism is used when users RSVP for advertised events.

“Users can prevent their endorsements from being shared with their friends by limiting who can see their posts through their privacy settings,” according to the complaint. “There is, however, no mechanism in place by which a user can prevent their name and likeness from appearing on a Facebook page if they have ‘liked’ it.”

The lawsuit, filed in New York by Justin Nastro through his father Frank Nastro, seeks class-action status, for those minors that have had their "names or likenesses used on a Facebook feed or in an advertisement sold by Facebook Inc. without the consent of their parent or guardian."

"We believe this suit is completely without merit and we will fight it vigorously," a Facebook spokesperson told The Huffington Post.

New York Civil Rights Law prevents advertisers from using a person's picture without permission. The Nastros are looking for a cut of the revenue Facebook received through the unapproved use of minors' names and images in product endorsement.

Comments

[El Chingaso]

04:39 AM on 05/05/2011

Excellent news. FB is a cyber cancer on the soul...of the internet-using public. I hope the suit...sends the site to eternal darkness.

[purenergy]

05:48 AM on 05/05/2011

scammed on FB? I have never had any problems with it, that I didn't cause by clicking on stupid apps or games. SO, I don't play games or use the apps. I just use it to keep in touch with family and friends...I wouldn't call that a cyber cancer on the soul. Just like everything else in the world, be smart, think, and use it wisely.

[wethree]

10:41 PM on 05/04/2011

This is only the beginning of Class Action lawsuits against Facebook with regard to appropriating names, likenesses and data from Minors without parental consent and profiting from it.

It's the fly in the Facebook ointment.

Parental consent is required for Minors to get tattoos. Minors are not allowed to buy cigarettes (Facebook is as addictive as cigarettes or gambling). But, Facebook signs up kids as young as 8-10 without parents having a clue or granting approval and then Facebook nabs their data and profits from it.

Shut'm'down.

Seriously. Kids would learn to be truly social, rather than digitally social.

[David Donnelly]

12:39 PM on 05/04/2011

I do believe Facebook is at fault, however, I also believe that if you post something on the internet, you have to expect it to be misused.

[wilray]

01:21 PM on 05/04/2011

The fact they are minors makes all the difference.

[purenergy]

05:50 AM on 05/05/2011

Totally agree. I don't put anything on the internet I don't intend the world to see.

[Pamela Hazelton]

12:22 PM on 05/04/2011

I support the suit. It's one thing to show on a page who has liked it - another to use that likeness to advertise. Just as you can't use a photo of a celeb as the basis of a magazine ad, you shouldn't be able to use my image to promote business without compensation.

[Tammi Hartley]

11:51 AM on 05/04/2011

I completely agree, if you want things kept private don't broadcast them — period.

[wilray]

01:23 PM on 05/04/2011

Facebook will not be allowed to exploit minors.

[Amishguy]

08:02 PM on 05/04/2011

Facebook isn't for minors.

[Matt Raven]

11:38 AM on 05/04/2011

This is pathetic. Just another example of the litigiousness of our country.

Protip: If you don't want your images used, your information accessed, your locations and activities tracked, DONT POST THEM ON FACEBOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Facebook is not some big-brother scheme. It isn't finding your information, and posting it for all to see. YOU ARE DOING IT YOURSELF then b1tching that someone might see it. Get a freaking clue already.

[wethree]

10:43 PM on 05/04/2011

Hey, um, @Matt, we're talking about kids. Some as young as 8 years old. Why are there laws against underage drinking? Gambling? Even getting a tattoo? Because parents can't monitor everything in society; and, well, there are some less than intelligent parents out there. So, there are laws to protect children.

Zuck+Co appropriating children's images and data and profiting off it is wrong.

If Facebook is so wonderful, then, let it be for an over 18 crowd. Given the fastest growing demographic are over 50+, who wants to hang out there anyway?

[frank day]

10:13 AM on 05/04/2011

FaceBook will face all sorts of challenges like this.

The whole thing is a scheme.

[apathyman]

10:11 AM on 05/04/2011

This actually took a lot longer than i expected.

[John Sweeney Jr]

09:38 AM on 05/04/2011

Saw this one coming.

[Comeplayinmyreality]

01:35 PM on 05/04/2011

Me too, just suprised to how long it took.