New judgment against Facebook for the processing of user data. The court in Amsterdam has ruled that Meta’s social network illegally processed Dutch users’ data. Data Privacy Stichting (DPS), a Dutch foundation representing victims of privacy violations in the Netherlands, filed the complaint in the case.
The judgment details that Facebook used the personal data of Dutch users for advertising purposes between April 1, 2010 and January 1, 2020, a period in which this was not allowed. In addition, Facebook also shared this personal data with third parties and without informing users at any time, the ruling says.
The class action against Facebook Ireland, the company’s subsidiary in Europe, was brought by the DPS and the Consumentenbond, one of the leading Dutch consumer organizations. The ruling would open the way for victims to negotiate a settlement with Facebook as compensation for what happened. If the case evolves and damages can be claimed, more than 10 million Dutch users could join the class action.
The data processed by Mark Zuckerberg’s social network to display advertising included information such as sexual preferences or religion. This highly sensitive data was then shared with third parties without the consent of the users themselves. In addition, Facebook not only shared with third parties the personal data of users, but also those of their friends on the social network.
This is not the first time that Facebook has been involved in a controversy related to the processing of users’ personal data. Earlier this year, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined the company and its sister Instagram for forcing users, in its new terms and conditions, to consent to having their personal data processed for advertising purposes.
To make matters worse, the social network itself admitted a few years ago that Facebook collects your data even if you are not connected or even without even having an account on the social network, through the Like or Share buttons, among other ways.
