KIMBERLY  M.  FOXX 

STATE’S  ATTORNEY 


Office  Of  The  State  s  Attorney 

Cook  County,  Illinois 


69  WEST  WASHINGTON  ST. 
SUITE  3200 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS  60602 


PRESS  RELEASE 


FOR  RELEASE: 
March  26,  2018 


FOR  INFORMATION: 
(312)  603-3423 


STATE'S  ATTORNEY  FOXX  FILES  LAWSUIT  AGAINST 
FACEBOOK  AND  CAMBRIDGE  ANALYTICA 


Cook  County  State's  Attorney  Kimberly  M.  Foxx  today  announced  the  her  office  has  filed  a  consumer 
fraud  lawsuit  against  Facebook,  Inc.  ("Facebook")  and  SCL  Group  Limited  and  Cambridge  Analytica  LLC 
("Cambridge  Analytica")  over  Cambridge  Analytica's  improper  harvesting  of  Facebook  user  data  and 
Facebook's  failure  to  adequately  protect  that  data.  This  resulted  in  the  exploitation  of  personal  data  of 
50  million  Facebook  users  with  the  express  purpose  of  influencing  the  2016  presidential  election. 

State's  Attorney  Foxx,  on  behalf  of  the  People  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  filed  the  complaint  in  the  Chancery 
Division  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County.  The  complaint  raises  claims  under  the  Illinois  Consumer 
Fraud  and  Deceptive  Business  Practices  Act. 

"Cambridge  Analytic  deliberately  misled  Facebook  users  so  it  could  build  psychological  profiles  of  the 
user  and  their  friends,  and  Facebook  did  not  stop  it,"  said  State's  Attorney  Foxx.  "This  blatant  deception 
violated  Illinois  law  and  more  importantly  violated  the  privacy  of  Illinois  residents.  Cambridge  Analytica 
and  Facebook  must  be  held  accountable  for  their  actions." 

The  suit  alleges  Cambridge  Analytica  used  fraudulent  and  deceptive  practices  to  gain  information  about 
50  million  Facebook  users  by  mining  -  without  users'  knowledge  -  information  about  every  Facebook 
"friend"  of  people  who  took  an  online  "personality  quiz."  This  improperly  obtained  data  was  used  to 
create  "psychographic  profiles"  on  millions  of  American  voters,  with  the  purpose  of  influencing  the 
outcome  of  the  2016  presidential  election. 

The  suit  further  alleges  that  Facebook  engaged  in  deceptive  practices  by  maintaining  formal  polices  and 
representing  to  the  public  that  strict  limitations  and  protocols  on  data  gathering  were  in  place,  while 
knowingly  allowing  app  developers,  including  Cambridge  Analytica,  to  accumulate  and  mine  data  vastly 
in  excess  of  those  policies. 

Upon  learning  of  Cambridge  Analytica's  actions,  Facebook  failed  to  take  adequate  corrective  action  or 
disclose  the  violation  of  its  privacy  policies  to  consumers.  Its  response  was  limited  to  a  single  private 
request  to  Cambridge  Analytica  to  delete  the  data.  Facebook  took  no  further  action,  nor  did  they  notify 
the  "friends"  whose  data  was  accessed,  until  the  public  revelation  of  the  breach  in  the  media,  at  which 
point  it  finally  and  for  the  first  time  suspended  Cambridge  Analytica's  Facebook  account. 


The  lawsuit  seeks  civil  penalties  and  fines  under  the  Illinois  Consumer  Fraud  and  Deceptive  Business 
Practices  Act. 


The  People  are  seeking  representation  by  the  outside  law  firm  Edelson  PC  in  this  litigation.  Edelson 
would  work  on  a  contingency  basis  and  its  fees  will  be  paid  from  any  recovery  generated  by  this  lawsuit. 

The  State's  Attorney's  Office  works  to  uphold  public  safety  through  the  fair  and  efficient 
administration  of  justice.  Follow  @SAKimFoxx  and  @CookCountySAO  on  Twitter  and  Facebook 
for  breaking  news  updates. 

###