Facebook ‘broke the law’ by ‘misusing’ personal data of Dutch citizens between 2010-2020. This was said during a hearing in a class action lawsuit in a Dutch court against Facebook Ireland, the social media giant’s European subsidiary.
In summary, the Amsterdam court ruling stated that “personal data was processed for advertising purposes where it is not allowed in this case.”
It continued: “Personal data has been transferred to third parties without informing Facebook users and without a legal basis.”
Appeal against the decision
A spokesman for Meta is reported to have said the company is “happy” with some parts of the decision, but will appeal to others, arguing that some of the claims filed in the courtroom are more than a decade old.
“We know this privacy (opens in a new tab) is important to our Dutch users and we want them to be in control of how their data is used,” the spokesperson said.
The Data Privacy Stichting, which represents the plaintiffs, said the group now hopes to negotiate a settlement with Facebook.
This is “quite a serious decision and we are obviously very pleased,” spokesman Gerard Spierenburg said. “We believe this is a very strong signal not only to Facebook, but to all companies that are using their users’ data unlawfully.”
According to a spokesperson, around 190,000 Dutch people have signed up to the initiative to seek compensation from Facebook for the mishandling of their data, but any of the 10 million citizens who used the social media platform in that decade could join if the case goes to a phase compensation. he concluded.
This is not the first time Facebook has been found guilty of mishandling user data. In 2020, it reached an agreement to pay $550 million in a class action lawsuit alleging misuse of biometrics.
By: Reuters (opens in a new tab)