ACCC takes Facebook to Federal Court for allegedly misleading app ads
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced Federal Court proceedings against Facebook and two subsidiaries for allegedly misleading consumers in ads promoting a since-discontinued mobile app designed to protect data.
The watchdog is alleging that Facebook claimed its Onavo Protect app, which provided a free virtual private network (VPN) service, would keep users’ data private. In fact, the ACCC claims, the app collected, aggregated and used user data to commercially benefit Facebook.
That data included records of every app users accessed and the number of seconds per day spent on those apps, according to the ACCC. Facebook allegedly used that data in its market research activities.
