California court signs $50M Meta privacy injunction over Facebook data controls

Source Domain: ppc.land

A San Francisco Superior Court entered a final judgment and permanent injunction against Meta Platforms, Inc. on March 3, 2026, ordering the company to pay $50 million in civil penalties and comply with an extensive set of data governanceobligations tied to how Facebook handles user information shared with third-party application developers. The case, People of the State of California v. Meta Platforms, Inc., Case No. CGC 25 631678, was filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and signed by Visiting Judge John M. True.

The judgment resolves allegations that Meta deceived consumers about their ability to control which individuals and entities could access the personal details they uploaded to Facebook – conduct that, according to the LinkedIn post of Mike Osgood, Deputy Attorney General and one of the attorneys for the People, arose from the circumstances giving rise to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The penalty is to be paid within sixty days of Meta receiving payment instructions from the California Attorney General, according to the judgment document. Each party bears its own attorney fees and costs.

What the injunction covers

The 16-page document is structured around four categories of obligation: policy requirements, system requirements, enforcement requirements, and reporting requirements to both the attorney general and Meta’s own board of directors. These obligations apply not just to Meta itself but to its officers, employees, directors, successors, affiliates, parents, subsidiaries, assigns, principals, and agents – in connection with the use or operation of the Facebook Platform as defined in the judgment.

The judgment defines the Facebook Platform as a set of services and tools, including application programming interfaces, related to the Facebook social networking service accessible through www.Facebook.com and mobile applications, made available to developers. The term explicitly excludes services and tools related to…

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