The Meta group, owner of Facebook and Instagram, was called to order by European justice on Friday, October 4 in relation to the use of all personal data by its platforms for advertising purposes, such as sexual orientation. The Austrian Supreme Court has appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), based in Luxembourg, in relation to the appeal presented by the activist Max Schrems, founder of the association NOYB (for “It’s none of your business”meaning “It’s none of your business.”), against the use that the American giant makes of the data that concerns it.
Specifically, the CJEU had to respond on two points. The first concerned the extent of use that Meta could make of all data collected about its users for specific advertising purposes. Can the company, for example, continue to use elements collected from an Internet user when he registered with Facebook twenty years ago? No, responds the court, which recalls in its ruling the principle of “data minimization” enshrined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which prevents all data obtained by the operator of a platform from being “are aggregated, analyzed and processed for specific advertising purposes”. in addition to the “time limitation”The Court recommends a “distinction based on nature” information.
“Meta has accumulated an enormous volume of data for twenty years and this volume grows every day”commented the plaintiff’s lawyer, Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig. Following this decision, only a small part of this database may be used for advertising purposes. »
Second point on which the CJEU ruled: according to the GDPR, Meta cannot use public information about a user’s sexual orientation obtained outside its platforms for personalized advertising purposes. In fact, Schrems criticized Facebook for attacking him with “advertisements aimed at homosexual people and invitations to corresponding events”although he had never revealed in his account that he was homosexual. The only time the activist brought up the issue was during a round table.
secured goal “Take privacy very seriously”. “Everyone who uses Facebook has access to a wide range of settings and tools that allow them to manage how we use their information”he recalled in a press release.
