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Woman takes Facebook to court over adverts

 

Should there be a right to privacy in law? One Facebook user is suing the company for using her personal information to target her with adverts.

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What's happening?

Tanya O'Carroll noticed something strange. She kept seeing adverts for baby products on FacebookA social media service set up by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. It is now owned by Meta, along with Instagram and WhatsApp. . How did the company know she had just become a mother?

She tried to change her settings on Facebook, but it did not change anything. So she asked Facebook to see what they knew about her. The answer was - almost everything. They knew where she liked to go on holiday, her favourite films and about her relationships and family.

Facebook uses this information to show adverts to the people who are most likely to be interested in them. O'Carroll is suing Facebook to stop them using this information, and it could cost them a lot of money if companies buy fewer adverts as a result.

Find out more

Should there be a right to privacy in law?

Yes! We need more protection from adverts. It is not right that we can share so much about our lives without meaning to.

No! A right to privacy in law would help wealthy or powerful people to hide what they are doing.

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Keywords

Facebook - A social media service set up by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. It is now owned by Meta, along with Instagram and WhatsApp.

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Woman takes Facebook to court over adverts

O'Carroll's quarrel: Facebook, owned by Meta, controls between 40% and 50% of social media advertising.

Should there be a right to privacy in law? One Facebook user is suing the company for using her personal information to target her with adverts.

Glossary

Facebook - A social media service set up by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. It is now owned by Meta, along with Instagram and WhatsApp.

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