Facebook call, text data scraping: Three users sue social network

Three Messenger users have sued Facebook in a class action suit alleging that the social media giant has violated their privacy by scraping data of their phone calls and text messages. The development comes at a time when Facebook is facing heat from all quarters over the leak of personal and other data of some 50 million users to political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. The three users, who have filed the lawsuit in a US federal court in the Northern District of California, have asked for unspecified damages, CNBC reported on late Tuesday. Facebook on Sunday acknowledged that it had been logging call and text history of Android users but said it does not save the data without users` permission who have an option to opt-out from it. The social media giant has been in news for wrong reasons lately. Last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the social media giant "made mistakes" over the Cambridge Analytica scandal and a "breach of trust" had occurred between it and its users.

He apologized for the data debacle that upended the social media giant and said he was ready to testify before Congress. The US Federal Trade commission (FTC) has already confirmed that it was investigating Facebook after the leak of personal and other data. 

The FTC said on Monday that it "takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook".  Additionally, Katarina Barley, Justice Minister in German government, said the social media giant would get stricter regulations in the country. 

Apple chief Tim Cook and IBM chair Ginni Rometty have also called for more measures to ensure user data protection.