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Court orders Meta to minimize the use of personal data for ads


The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has decided Meta can only use personal information of its users that’s strictly necessary to offer personalized ads.

The case was filed back in 2014 by Max Schrems, chairman of the Austrian privacy organization Noyb. He argued that Facebook unlawfully processed his personal data, including his sexual orientation, without his consent.

To collect as much information as possible, Meta used a plethora of tracking tools both on and outside Facebook, such as cookies, social plugins and tracking pixels embedded on relevant third-party apps and websites.

With all this data at its disposal, Meta was able to identify Schrems’ interest in sensitive topics, including his homosexuality, and offer him targeted ads. Schrems admits he disclosed his sexual orientation during a public panel discussion. However, that does not give Meta the right to process this information and offer him personalized ads, he pleads.

The Court of Justice of the European Union agrees.

In its verdict the Court argues that the principle of data minimization dictated in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) precludes all of the personal data obtained by a controller from being aggregated, analyzed and processed for targeted advertising.

“The fact that a person has made a statement about his or her sexual orientation on the occasion of a public panel discussion does not authorize the operator of an online social network platform to process other data relating to that person’s sexual orientation, obtained, as the case may be, outside that platform using partner third-party websites and apps, with a view to aggregating and analyzing those data, in order to offer that person personalized advertising,” the Court concludes.

Schrems’ lawyer Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig says she’s very pleased by the ruling. She points out that Meta has been building ‘a huge data pool on users’ for about 20 years.

“Following this ruling only a small part of Meta's data pool will be allowed to be used for advertising, even when users consent to ads. This ruling also applies to any other online advertisement company that does not have stringent data deletion practices,” Raabe-Stuppnig says in a statement.

Meta hasn’t responded to the verdict of the Court of Justice of the European Union.


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