Facebook Said to Be Target of More U.S. Probes on Privacy

Facebook has become the target of at least three more state probes into the alleged mishandling of user data, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. The state probes are coalescing into two main groups scrutinizing the social-media company’s data-protection practices, said the people, who declined to be named.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro and Illinois counterpart, Kwame Raoul, have joined forces with Connecticut’s William Tong, said two people. That group is focused on investigating existing allegations, one of the people said. New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, which were already known to be probing Facebook, are seeking to uncover any potential unknown violations, said one of the people. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is also investigating as part of a multi state effort, according to his office.

The inquires signal widening pressure on the company after a series of privacy scandals sparked by disclosures a year ago that the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Such lapses are also fueling calls for U.S. legislation, even as investigations progress with the Federal Trade Commission and in the European Union. U.S. senators pressed the social-media giant over reports that the company secretly paid users for their data and allowed kids playing Facebook games to make purchases costing thousands of dollars.

States often team up to investigate companies over conduct that’s national in scope, sometimes in tandem with the Justice Department. Such groups frequently reach settlements or file suit, as they did when a group sued Standard & Poor’s in 2013 over faulty ratings on mortgage bonds. Major deals include a $25 billion agreement with banks in 2012 over foreclosure practices and a sweeping settlement with the tobacco industry in the 1990s.