• by Wendy Davis , 3 hours ago

Siding with Meta Platforms, a federal judge has dismissed a class-action privacy complaint claiming the company wrongly collected location data about Facebook users via tracking software embedded in mobile apps.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco essentially said the allegations in the complaint, even if proven true, would not show that Meta knew it didn't have users' permission to collect the data.

Lin dismissed the case without prejudice -- meaning that the plaintiffs can beef up their claims and bring them again.

The ruling came in a battle dating to February 2025, when California resident Lisa Tsering alleged that the Facebook Audience Network software development kit receives precise latitude and longitude data, along with timestamps and unique device identifiers. A second plaintiff, Dominique Davis, later joined in the case.

Tsering and Davis alleged that they downloaded apps with the Facebook Audience Network software development kit. Tsering said she downloaded the Solitaire app, and Davis alleged that she downloaded Nextdoor.

They alleged that they didn't consent to share geolocation data with Meta or any third party for ad purposes.

Their complaint included claims that Meta violated California privacy laws -- including an anti-hacking law.

Lin ruled that the allegations against Meta, if proven true, wouldn't be enough to show that the company violated California laws.

For instance, Lin wrote, the anti-hacking law only prohibits companies from obtaining computer data when the companies know they don't have owners' permission to acquire the information.

But the complaint against Meta lacked allegations that the company knew it didn't have permission to access smartphone data, Lin wrote.

Another count in the complaint was for "invasion of privacy" -- a claim that generally requires plaintiffs to prove they were subjected to a "highly offensive" privacy violation.

Lin effectively dismissed that count for the same reason as the claim regarding the anti-hacking law -- that the complaint didn't include allegations that Meta knew it collected data without consent.

She added that the allegations didn't suggest that Meta "was intentionally engaged in a secret or deceptive, and thus highly offensive, intrusion."

Lin gave Tsering and Davis until February 9 to revise their allegations and file an amended complaint.