A group of seven plaintiffs filed a motion with the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to consolidate 11 related privacy class actions against Facebook, and transfer them to the federal court in San Jose, California. Counsel for the Facebook plaintiffs also retained Henry H. Perritt, Jr., Professor of Law and former Dean of Chicago-Kent College of Law, as an advisor.  Professor Perritt, the author of the Law and the Information Superhighway, served on President Bill Clinton’s Transition Team, working on telecommunications issues.

The first-filed case, styled Davis, et al. v. Facebook, Inc., Civ. Action No. 11-cv-04834 (PSG) (N.D. Cal.), alleges federal wiretapping and computer fraud claims against Facebook following recent revelations of Facebook’s secret tracking of its members’ computer usage.  Since then, at least 10 other related cases have been filed in Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama and California.

A copy of the Class Action Complaint in Davis v. Facebook and today’s Motion filed with the JPML can be viewed here.

Plaintiffs are represented by Sianni & Straite, Keefe Bartels, and Eichen Crutchlow Zaslow & McElroy.

Henry H. Perritt, Jr. (Professor of Law and former Dean, Chicago-Kent College of Law): Internet privacy protection in the United States depends largely on self-regulation.