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Facebook Reaches 1,000,000 users
Less than a year after Mark Zuckerberg and co-founders Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin launched thefacebook.com from a Harvard dorm room, the site had accumulated nearly 1,000,000 users. -
Facebook Reaches 50 Million Users
Only three years after launching, Facebook reaches 50 million users.The site had also added platforms for mobile devices, enabled pictures and news feeds, and expanded registration making it possible for anyone with access to an Internet connection to join. -
Facebook Launches Facebook Ads
Facebook's ads, and it's sale of user information to marketing companies and corporations has become the cause for numerous class action lawsuits that the company has faced. -
Facebook Reaches 100,000,000 Users
It took the social media giant only three years to reach 50 million users, and then less than a year to double that figure, after spreading internationally to nearly every continent. -
Lane v Facebook
Plaintiff Sean Lane of California brings charges against Facebook for sharing user information without consent. Lane purchased a ring for his wife through Oversite.com, which was part of Facebook's 'Beacon' advertising plan. Information on the purchase was shown to hundreds of members in Lane's network including his wife without his knowledge or consent. Facebook shut down the program after the lawsuit. -
Facebook reaches over 350 million users
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FTC and EPIC announce Facebook investigation
The Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Federal Trade Commission, along with 10 other Internet privacy groups, file an investigation against Facebook after the site changed it's privacy policy so that some user information, like status updates, became public information. Making this information public made it much easier for third party advertisers to target their audiences. -
Marfeo v. Facebook
Marfeo v Facebook Another major problem with minors. Wendy Marfeo of Rhode Island files a class action lawsuit seeking damages for violations to their privacy rights from Facebook's 'intentional and knowing transmission' of user information to third-party advertisers without user consent, in violation of the site's privacy agreement with its' users. -
Cohen v. Facebook
Robyn Cohen of California flies a lawsuit against facebook for using member's photos and profile pictures for commercial purposes. The case rose from Facebook's 'Freind Finder' service, which places notifications on a user's home page alerting them of other people in their network who use the service in an attempt to get them to join. The site does so without user consent, however, causing Cohen to file a missapropriation suit. -
Meth v. Facebook
California lawyers file a class action lawsuit against Facebook saying the site had used the names and likenesses of California minors for commercial purposes 'without the prior consent of their parents or legal guardians, in violation of guaranteed privacy protections.' Once a minor clicks the 'like' button on an advertiser's page, their photo could potentiall appear on the advertiser's page and/or on other user's home pages as their endorsment of the company or service without their consent. -
Facebook reaches 750 million users
Facebook continues to grow and ad users exponentially. The site has an estimated 800 million users and counting today. -
A Letter to Congress
Congressmen Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) send a letter to Congress demanding a full-scale investigation by the FCC on Facebook and it's privacy practices. -
A Letter to Zuckerberg
Congressmen Edward Markey (D-Mass) and Joe Barton (R- Texas) wrote a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Nov 16 asking numerous questions about Facebook's use of user information, including sending information gathered from apps like Farmville to third-party advertisers.