Misuse of personal data, Facebook loses class action

A court in Amsterdam found the company guilty of improperly handling user data for almost ten years.

Posted on 15 March 2023 by Redazione

 The use of personal data is a source of joy and sorrow for Meta. From here, for its social platforms derive the majority of revenues, because data are the basis of all advertising activities, but they are also the most contested argument by watchdog organizations and consumer protection associations. The last negative opinion on the subject is that of a court in Amsterdam that ruled in favour of users gathered in class action, who contested an improper use of their personal data.

According to the court, for almost a decade (between April 2020 and January 2020) Facebook has been handling user data illegally, using it for advertising activities and also transferring it to third parties and sending it from the Netherlands to the United States. All without having properly informed people of these uses.

The class action was promoted by the Dutch privacy organization

Data Privacy Stichting with the support of Consumentenbond, a consumer protection association. The legal action was directed at three subsidiaries of Meta and in particular Facebook Ireland, which is responsible for the use of personal data of European users.

The Amsterdam Court limited its judgment to Facebook Ireland, as the only entity involved in the processing of Dutch users' data. According to the court, the company has acted outside the law, in particular, in the use for advertising purposes of sensitive personal data such as religious belief and sexual orientation of users. On the contrary, the use of cookies on third-party sites does not represent a violation or harm for subscribers to the social network.

Tags: privacy, facebook, social network, social media

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