Justice orders Facebook to pay US$94 to 8 million Brazilians

The Maranhão state court on Thursday (March 23) ordered Facebook to pay R$500 (US$94) in damages to 8 million users in Brazil.

The decision refers to a data leak.

In 2021, Facebook reported that 533 million users from 106 countries, including 8 million Brazilians, had their information leaked.

At the time, the stolen data was put up for sale by a hacker, who asked for up to R$1,720 (US$323).

The episode motivated a class action suit by the Maranhão branch of Ibedec (Brazilian Institute for the Defense of Consumer Relations).

The entity pointed to violating privacy, integrity, honor, and image.

In addition to individual compensation, Judge Douglas de Melo Martins of the Court of Common and Collective Interests of the district of the Island of São Luís ordered the social network to pay another R$72 million (US$13.5 million) as collective moral damages, an amount to be reverted to the State Fund for Diffuse Interests.

In the decision, the judge cited the LGDP (General Law of Personal Data Protection) – No. 13,709/2018), which establishes respect for privacy and informational self-determination and stipulates that the processing of personal data should only occur upon the consent of the holder.

He also mentioned the Marco Civil da Internet (n° 12.695/2014), which establishes principles, guarantees, rights, and duties for internet use in Brazil and consumer protection.

The text includes the protection of privacy and personal data.

“It is appropriate to point out that the processing agents must adopt technical and administrative security measures to protect personal data from unauthorized access and accidental or unlawful situations of destruction, loss, alteration, communication or any form of inappropriate or unlawful treatment,” wrote the judge in the sentence.

The decision can be appealed.

With information from Poder360

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