Facebook因滥用用户隐私遭遇集体诉讼

Facebook近日遭遇一起用户集体诉讼案，或将面临巨额赔偿。

美国佛罗里达州一名叫科林·布里克曼（Colin Brickman）的男子发起了这起对Facebook的集体诉讼。布里克曼指控，Facebook未经授权就向用户手机发送朋友的生日信息，违犯了联邦法律，并要求Facebook为它向用户发送的每条未授权信息赔偿1500美元。

在周五提交的一份集体起诉书中，布里克曼称，Facebook向用户发送的生日信息违反了电话消费者保护法（Telephone Consumer Protection Act）。该法案是一部限制电话营销的法律。

根据起诉书，Facebook从未获得许可就向布里克曼的手机发送朋友生日信息：“今天是吉姆·斯图尔特（Jim Stewart）的生日。您可回复一条祝愿，该祝愿将显示在他的时间轴中。您也可回复数字‘1’，系统将自动帮您发出‘生日快乐！’的祝愿”

布里克曼声称，Facebook向用户手机发送朋友生日信息是市场营销的一种形式，这种行为必须经过用户明确的书面同意才是允许的。

“Facebook通过自动拨号器向用户手机批量发送这种信息，并采用了标准响应提示。每一个提示都是在为Facebook打广告。此次诉讼是为大量没有给予Facebook事先明确同意的用户发起的。”说投诉。

Facebook的发言人在一封电子邮件中拒绝对此次诉讼发表评论。

如果Facebook不能证明它有权限发送这些生日信息，那么它将可能需要付出巨额赔偿金。根据电话营销法的规定，如果消费者能证明被告的违规是故意的，他们可以要求被告付出每条信息500美元或1500美元的赔偿。

Facebook并不是第一个因为涉嫌违犯电话营销法而遭到起诉的公司。去年，西联国际汇款公司(Western Union)为和解一起类似的集体诉讼而支付了850万美元的赔偿金。Uber和雅虎最近也遭遇了类似的诉讼。

美国联邦通信委员会（The Federal Communications Commission）去年曾向消费者发出一条通知，提醒消费者第三方发送未经授权的信息是非法的，只有在紧急情况下另外。(财富中文网)

A Florida man claims Facebook broke a federal law by sending unauthorized text messages about friends’ birthdays, and is seeking up to $1,500 per message on behalf of himself and other Facebook users.

In a proposed class action suit filed Friday, Colin Brickman claims the Facebook FB -0.39% birthday texts violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a law that limits telemarketing and automatic dialing systems.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

According to the lawsuit, Facebook never obtained permission to send texts to Brickman’s cell phone, but nonetheless sent a message that read, “Today is Jim Stewart’s birthday. Reply to post a wish on his Timeline or reply with 1 to post ‘Happy Birthday!’”

Brickman claims such birthday messages, which Facebook sends to users who have given the company their phone number, are a form of marketing that is only permitted with a user’s express written consent.

“Facebook sent bulk and impersonal text messages by an autodialer to cell phones like Plaintiff’s, using standard response prompts. Every prompt solicits the receiver to engage on Facebook. This lawsuit is for the thousands of persons who did NOT give Facebook prior express consent,” say the complaint.

In an email, a spokesperson for Facebook declined to comment on the lawsuit.

If Facebook can’t prove it had permission to send the messages, the social network could be on the hook for millions in damages. Under the telemarketing law, consumers can seek $500 per violation or $1,500 if they can show the violation was willful.

If the case goes forward, Facebook would not be the first company whose text messages have run afoul of the telemarketing law. In the last year, Western Union WU 4.78% agreed to pay $8.5 million to resolve a class action over unsolicited text messages while Uber and Yahoo YHOO 8.28% are currently in court over similar lawsuits.

The Federal Communications Commission has also become more aggressive about text-based marketing, posting a notice last year to remind consumers that unauthorized texts are illegal except in the case of an emergency.