Facebook User Sues FarmVille Maker, Zynga, for Violating the Privacy Rights of Millions of Americans

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- A class action lawsuit filed yesterday challenges Zynga's alleged practice of illegally sharing the Facebook user data of its customers with advertisers and data brokers.

The lawsuit alleges that Zynga, which currently makes six of the top ten Facebook games, collected the Facebook data of its 218 million users and shared it with advertisers and data brokers in violation of federal law and Zynga's contract with Facebook.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco, Calif., is brought by Nancy Graf of St. Paul, Minnesota. The class action seeks monetary relief for those whose data was wrongly shared, and injunctive relief to prevent continued privacy abuses.

"This appears to be another example of an online company failing the American public with empty promises to respect individual privacy rights," explained Michael Aschenbrener of Edelson McGuire LLC, co-lead attorney for the class action. "Companies large and small need to learn to follow through on their privacy promises or risk having consumers decide that it is simply not worth it to use their services," added Kassra Nassiri of Nassiri & Jung LLP, co-lead attorney for the lawsuit.

Aschenbrener and Nassiri are also co-lead class counsel in another case against Facebook that alleges massive privacy violations.

Edelson McGuire LLC is a leading class action firm that focuses on Internet, technology, privacy, banking, and consumer issues with attorneys in Illinois, New York, California, and Florida. www.edelson.com.

Nassiri & Jung LLP is a boutique litigation firm based in San Francisco that focuses on complex business disputes. www.nassiri-jung.com

SOURCE Edelson McGuire LLC