Facebook’s Privacy Loss May Bolster Federal Big Tech User Suits

Facebook Inc.'s failure to kill a user privacy lawsuit connected to the Cambridge Analytica data scandal will encourage consumer attorneys going after big tech companies to push for costly settlements or jury verdicts, practitioners said.

The Sept. 9 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruling denying most of Facebook’s motion to dismiss likely helps consumers and the plaintiffs’ bar pursue privacy actions against companies such as Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Apple Inc., and others, privacy attorneys, academics, and industry analysts said.

“The ruling makes it tougher for companies to dodge suits at the early stages—and that means both ...