A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint filed in December is alleging that Facebook failed to protect private health information in its groups. The complaint– which was recently made public–alleges that Facebook leaked data about individuals in their patient support groups. These groups are dedicated to providing a sense of community for those who share the same medical conditions. BRCA and NGLY1 community advocates helped file the complaint. BRCA is a genetic mutation that has been linked to breast cancer, while NGLY1 is a rare genetic disorder. “Facebook offers the illusion of control but ignores and obscures privacy decisions,” the complaint said. The complaint alleges that Facebook was deceptive in using the terms “safety” and “control” for its medical support groups while giving users the ability to download personal information about group members. Support group members could have their names, phone numbers and email addresses downloaded which would link them to specific...

As if Facebook didn’t have enough to deal with, now the company is facing a lawsuit from advertisers who allege that Facebook misrepresented its ad viewership metrics. In 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook overstated the average viewing time for video ads and that the company disclosed the error through its advertiser help center a month prior. A lawsuit filed Tuesday, alleges that Facebook knew there were problems with the way it collected data on ads before then. “Facebook’s internal efforts behind the scenes reflect a company mentality of reckless indifference toward the accuracy of its metrics,” the plaintiffs said in Tuesday’s filing. Facebook told advertisers that it overstated its metrics by 60 to 80 percent, but plaintiff’s in Tuesday’s court filing alleged that the company misrepresented the metric by 150 to 900 percent. Facebook denied any wrongdoings in a statement and has moved to dismiss the case. “Suggestions that we in any way tried to hide this...