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Re:Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation by foamflower on Thursday March 14, 2019 @07:50AM (#19388354)
IANAL either, but two things stand out. First, breach of contract is not a criminal wrong, only a civil one. Second, it would be a big stretch to say that the relationship between users and Facebook (or any nominally free service) is a contract, as valid contracts must follow certain requirements like consideration or a meeting of the minds. This is partly why things like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act that e.g. Aaron Swartz was being prosecuted under (persecuted, IMHO) can be so alarming: things like terms of service normally wouldn't even stand up as a contract, but under CFAA, they can give rise to criminal charges.

I have no idea what charges the Eastern District of NY might be seeking pursuant to these data deals, but maybe something like mail/wire fraud or honest services fraud? Again IANAL, but those are fairly broad and the government could make the case that Facebook fraudulently breached its duties to its users.

Re:Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation by lithos on Thursday March 14, 2019 @12:04PM (#19390499)
Read the article. This discusses violations of an agreement between Facebook and the FTC. Not an agreement or ToS between users and Facebook.
Re:Facebook’s Data Deals Are Under Criminal Investigation by foamflower on Sunday March 17, 2019 @02:55PM (#19415674)
Did you read OP? In context, the idea is clearly that Facebook violated some sort of contract with its users.