Facebook is facing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the 622,161 Canadians who may be among 87 million people whose personal data was improperly harvested.The proposed class action comes on the same day Cambridge Analytica — the British political consulting firm that’s now the subject of political probes in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K., as well as an investigation by Canada’s privacy commissioner — said it was shutting down and filing for bankruptcy because news reports about the privacy scandal had “driven away virtually all” of its customers and suppliers.A lawsuit filed Wednesday at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice is the second class-action to hit the Silicon Valley heavyweight over the Cambridge Analytica drama. Last month a class action was launched in U.S. district court on behalf of 71 million U.S. and U.K. users whose data may have been scraped by the firm, which has been accused of building detailed voter profiles for electoral gain. Read more:Suppressing U.S. votes was a focus at Cambridge Analytica, Canadian whistleblower saysPrivacy watchdog wants rules for how political parties use Canadians’ personal dataOpinion | Jennifer Wells: Same old excuses in Facebook’s news feedThe Canadian class action, which has yet to be certified by a judge, alleges Facebook and Facebook Canada disclosed users’ personal information without their consent and failed to adequately protect their privacy.A statement of claim filed in the court Wednesday alleges the tech giant “intentionally or recklessly and without lawful justification invaded the private affairs or concerns of the (users) … in a way that a reasonable person would regard the invasion as highly offensive causing distress, humiliation or anguish.”The Star is awaiting comment from Facebook after reaching out late Wednesday afternoon.The lawsuit seeks $62,216,100 in punitive damages, or $100 for each of the 622,161 Canadians Faceb ...
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