A judge in San Francisco has ruled that class-action lawsuit against tech-giant Facebook can proceed in the US state of Illinois in response to allegations that the site has been using facial recognition technology to identify users online without their knowledge or consent.
The legal victory for the plaintiffs comes seven years after the original application was made in 2011 over claims that the company was operating algorithms on users facial information in order to "suggest tags" when new photos are uploaded.
Facebook has denied the allegations and said it will vigorously oppose the suit, which it maintains is without foundation.
In yet another potentially damaging revelation for the online data giant, a former director at Cambridge Analytica, Brittney Kaiser submitted in her evidence to the UK Government's inquiry into the data mining scandal that likely far more than 87 million users' accounts and their data have been compromised.
The European Union's digital chief is also slated to meet with the embattled CEO amid increasing criticisms from activists in Europe that the company is engaging in manipulative and deceitful conduct in order to impose facial surveillance on European users.