Facebook sues OneAudience over data use

Facebook is accusing the company of improperly accessing and collecting user data from Facebook and other social media companies by paying app developers to install a malicious software development kit (SDK) in their apps.

In a blog post, Facebook said the issue was identified as part of its data abuse bounty programme where the company rewards people who report misuse of data by app developers.

Facebook and other affected companies took enforcement measures against OneAudience which included disabling apps, sending the company a cease and desist letter, and requesting it participate in an audit. However OneAudience declined to cooperate.

Jessica Romero, director of platform enforcement and litigation, said: "Through these lawsuits, we will continue sending a message to people trying to abuse our services that Facebook is serious about enforcing our policies, including requiring developers to cooperate with us during an investigation, and advance the state of the law when it comes to data misuse and privacy."