The European Union's highest court ruled that Meta, the company behind Facebook, cannot use information about a person's sexual orientation for targeted advertising. This ruling is part of the strict privacy laws in Europe.
The court's decision, announced on Friday (October 4) is a significant win for Max Schrems, an Austrian lawyer who has been fighting for user privacy rights against large tech companies.
Court Rules Against Meta's Use of Personal Data for Ads
The Court of Justice of the European Union made this ruling after Austria's supreme court asked for guidance on how to apply privacy rules under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Schrems had raised concerns that Facebook used details about his sexual orientation to show him specific ads, even though he had never shared that information on his account. The only time he mentioned it publicly was during a panel discussion.
According to AP News, the court stated that an online social network like Facebook is not permitted to use all personal data collected for targeted advertising indefinitely and without regard to the type of data.
Even though Schrems had disclosed his sexual orientation during the panel, the court clarified that Meta cannot use additional data about his sexual orientation that was obtained from outside its platform for personalized advertising.
Meta responded by saying it is reviewing the complete judgment and remains committed to privacy. The company emphasized that everyone using Facebook has access to a wide range of settings and tools that allow them to manage how their information is used.
Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig, the attorney for Schrems, expressed her approval of the ruling. She pointed out that Meta has been collecting user data for many years and stated that this new ruling will limit how that data can be used for ads, even if users agree to receive them. She stressed that EU law mandates "data minimization," which means companies should only use the data they truly need.
Schrems has been a thorn in the side of Facebook for over a decade. His challenges have led to significant court rulings that changed how the company handles data.
Meta's Data Privacy Battle
Two previous rulings struck down agreements that allowed the sharing of data between the EU and the US, revealing that Meta did not do enough to protect user information from U.S. intelligence agencies.
Last year, another complaint from Schrems resulted in a huge fine of $1.3 billion for Meta due to GDPR violations, which put the company in a difficult position about transferring Europeans' personal data to the US. A last-minute approval of a new EU-US data-sharing agreement provided some relief for Meta, according to Fortune.
In a recent case involving German antitrust law, the court ruled against Meta's method for targeted advertising, forcing the company to rely on user consent. Meta had tried to make users choose between accepting targeted ads or paying a fee, but this plan was rejected by EU regulators after a complaint from Schrems.
Schrems expressed satisfaction with the latest ruling, noting that until now, Meta and other online advertisers operated without proper limits on the data they could use. The latest case focused on his sexual orientation, which the GDPR considers sensitive information and requires stricter handling.
The court clarified that even though Schrems revealed his sexual orientation during a panel, it does not allow Meta to target ads based on that information collected from other sources, including tracking his behavior on different websites.
Meta representatives stated that the company does not use "special categories" of data, like sexual orientation, for advertising. They added that their terms explicitly forbid advertisers from sharing sensitive information and that they actively filter out any potentially sensitive data that they can identify.
