Meta Platforms must limit the use of personal data collected on Facebook for targeted advertising, Europe’s highest court ruled on Friday, backing privacy activist Max Schrems.
Schrems filed his complaint in an Austrian court, claiming that he was targeted by advertisements due to Meta’s personalized advertising based on the processing of personal data.
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The Austrian court then sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which backed Schrems on Friday.
“An online social network such as Facebook cannot use all personal data obtained for the purposes of targeted advertising, without limitation in time and without distinction by type of data,” the CJEU said.
The judges said the data reduction policy under EU privacy laws known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stipulates this.
Meta responded that it has invested more than 5 billion euros to embed privacy in its products and that it does not use special categories of data that users provide to personalize ads while advertisers are not allowed to share sensitive data.
“Everyone who uses Facebook has access to a variety of settings and tools that allow people to manage how we use their information,” said a Meta spokesperson.
Schrems’ lawyer Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig welcomed the decision.
“Following this decision only a small part of Meta data will be allowed to be used for advertising – even when users agree to ads. This decision applies to any other online advertising company, which does not have strict data removal procedures,” he. said.
Schrems has taken Meta to court several times for alleged GDPR violations.
The case is C-446/21 Schrems (Communication of data to the general public).
First published: October 04 2024 | 4:37 PM IST