• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, Yesterday

Meta Platforms is urging a federal judge to dismiss claims that it violates California privacy laws by allegedly collecting location data about Facebook users via tracking software embedded in mobile apps.

In papers filed this week with U.S. District Court Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco, Meta argues that the allegations against it are too “generalized” and “conclusory” to warrant further proceedings.

The complaint “lacks any meaningful factual allegations to support the basic premise of plaintiff’s claims - -that Meta improperly received her geolocation data through app developers’ use of SDKs (software development kits),” Meta writes.

The motion comes in a lawsuit brought by California resident Lisa Tsering in February, when she alleged that the Facebook Audience Network software development kit receives precise latitude and longitude data, along with timestamps and unique device identifiers.

“Defendant collects sensitive information from consumers, including where they live, where they work, where they worship, where their children go to school or obtain child care, where they received medical treatment (potentially revealing the existence of medical conditions), whether they went to rallies, demonstrations, or protests (potentially revealing their political affiliations), and any other information that can be gleaned from tracking a person’s day-to-day movements,” she alleged.

Tsering alleged that she downloaded apps such as Candy Crush Saga, which contained Facebook's tracking code, and “routinely” traveled to locations she considers private, including her home, place of work and medical appointments

Her complaint included claims that Meta is violating a California anti-hacking law by accessing consumers' mobile devices, and is violating state restrictions on collecting metadata associated with electronic communications.

Meta counters that the allegations in the complaint are too speculative to support the claims, and too general to provide the company with fair notice of the charges.

For instance, Meta writes, Tsering alleges that she downloaded Candy Crush, but doesn't allege that she enabled location services for that app, or any other app, and doesn't specify which software development kit features were used by particular developers.

The failure to include those details in the complaint “renders plaintiff’s allegations that her geolocation data was sent entirely speculative,” the platform argues.

Meta also argues that the allegations, even if proven true, would only show that Meta received data from developers -- not that it “acted affirmatively to obtain data.”

Lin is expected to hold a hearing in the case on September 9.