CAMDEN, Maine–A class action lawsuit has been filed against a bank here alleging it has sold customer data to Facebook.
The lawsuit came after Michael Lessner, a customer of Camden National Bank, applied for credit card and then noticed he was receiving targeted ads on Facebook for credit cards from other financial institutions, and he became worried over how Facebook and possibly other websites had gained access to his personal and financial information.
Now, Lessner has filed a federal class-action lawsuit accusing the bank of the “outrageous, illegal and widespread practice of disclosing — without consent — the nonpublic personal information and personally identifiable financial information” of consumers by “secretly” implementing code-based tracking technologies into its website and profiting off that information, according to the Portland Press Herald.
15 Allegations
The case, filed in the U.S. District Court District of Maine, alleges 15 counts of wrongdoing, including negligence, invasion of privacy, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, among violations of other state and federal laws.
Also named as third parties are Google, Google Doubleclick Ads, Google Tag Manager and Meta Pixels as third parties.
In an emailed statement to the Press Herald, a bank spokesperson said the company does not comment on legal matters, but that “customers’ privacy and security are our highest priorities, and we take our responsibility to protect their personal and financial information seriously.”
According to the lawsuit’s allegation, with its tracking technology, Camden National’s website captures credit card and bank account applications, as well as what websites the user visited, what buttons they clicked and what URLs they went to next, the Press Herald reported.
‘Everyone Profits, But…’
“Customers … simply do not anticipate that a trusted financial institution will send their personal and financial information to hidden third parties (who in turn share with fourth parties), all of whom profit off of it; likewise, when plaintiff and class members used defendant’s website, they thought they were communicating exclusively with a trusted financial institution,” the lawsuit states.
The Press Herald further reported that data harvesting “drives Facebook’s advertising sales, and that in 2023 Facebook generated nearly $135 billion in revenue, roughly 98% of which was derived in advertising revenue alone.”
