Facebook sues developers who violated terms to collect user data, sell fake likes

In MobiBurns case, it also took enforcement action, disabled its apps and requested its participation in an audit, as its policies now allow for.

Once installed, MobiBurn collected information from the devices and requested data from Facebook, including the persons name, time zone, email address and gender, explains Facebook, in its announcement of the lawsuit.

The suit is looking for an injunction against MobiBurn; the ability to audit the companys systems; an account of the data it accessed, payments made to developers, and payments received; damages and other relief.

Facebook had previously shut down the engagement service and formally warned the developer he was in violation, and sent a cease and desist letter.

While Facebooks attempts to crack down on developers violating its terms of service, users have found other ways to inauthentically grow their follower base. Many Instagram users, for example, participate in pods where they systematically coordinate liking and commenting on each others posts as a way to game Instagram algorithms.

Todays actions are the latest in our efforts to protect people who use our services, hold those who abuse our platform accountable, and advance the state of the law around data misuse and privacy, said Facebook, in a statement.