Facebook sues South Korean analytics firm Rankwave over developer platform abuse

Facebook says Rankwave unlawfully sold developer platform data to advertising and marketing firms

Facebook has filed a lawsuit against a South Korean analytics firm, called Rankwave, accusing it of mis-using the company's data for targeted marketing.

Facebook is claiming breach of contract and demanding that Rankwave be ordered to undergo a compliance audit. It accuses the South Korean company of failing to comply with its data policies by unlawfully selling developer platform data to advertising and marketing companies.

The company filed suit in California Superior Court in San Mateo late on Friday. Facebook's lawyers told the court that Rankwave had repeatedly refused its request to delete users' data.

Facebook believes that Rankwave used at least 30 apps to track and analyse likes and comments on Facebook pages. The company also claimed that Rankwave's consumer app tracks the popularity of users' posts after getting their consent.

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According to the court documents, Rankwave repeatedly ignored Facebook's requests for an audit and failed to provide evidence to prove that it had not violated its contract with Facebook.

Rankwave was founded by Sungwha Shim in 2012. In May 2017, it was sold to a South Korean entertainment firm. According to Facebook, the value of its data at that time was $9.8 million.

In January 2019, Facebook contacted Rankwave, asking it to provide evidence to prove that it had complied with the social network's policies. Rankwave didn't respond to Facebook's request.

A month later, Facebook issued a cease-and-desist order for the company. In response, Rankwave denied Facebook's charges of violating policies but, again, it didn't provide any proof in support of its statements.

Finally, Facebook disconnected Rankwave's apps, and filed suit, seeking an undisclosed amount to cover the value of the data, plus legal fees and monetary damages.

The company also wants the court to restrict the South Korean firm from accessing its social networking platform and to ask it to delete all Facebook data.

"Facebook has already suspended apps and accounts associated with Rankwave, and today's suit asks the court to enforce the basic cooperation terms that Rankwave agreed to in exchange for the opportunity to operate apps on the platform," Jessica Romero, Facebook's director of platform enforcement and litigation said in a blog post.

"By filing the lawsuit, we are sending a message to developers that Facebook is serious about enforcing our policies, including requiring developers to cooperate with us during an investigation," she added.

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