European Court of Justice: Defeat for Meta: Cartel Office may examine data protection

2023-07-04 12:00:31

European Court of Justice Defeat for Meta: Cartel Office may examine data protection

The German Federal Cartel Office can generally prohibit the Facebook group from merging user data. photo

© Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

In 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office prohibited Meta from processing cross-platform data without user consent. The group fought back. The ECJ has now made a judgment.

Facebook’s parent company Meta has suffered a defeat before the highest European court. Antitrust authorities may also check compliance with data protection regulations in their competition investigations, the judge decided European Court of Justice (ECJ) on Tuesday in Luxembourg. The German Federal Cartel Office was thus able to prohibit the Facebook group from merging user data.

If users log in to Facebook, they agree to the general terms of use and also the guidelines for the use of data and so-called cookies. Accordingly, Meta collects data about the activities inside and outside the platform and assigns them to the Facebook accounts of the users.

The goal: personalize advertising for Facebook

The data outside the social network relates to information about accessing third-party websites on the one hand and data on the use of other platforms that also belong to the meta group, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, on the other. The aim was to personalize advertising for Facebook.

In 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office prohibited the processing of such data without the consent of the users. This violates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Meta is thus exploiting its dominant position in the market.

Facebook defended itself before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. This now asked the ECJ whether national competition authorities may examine the extent to which data processing meets the requirements of the GDPR. The ECJ has now confirmed this.

According to the judges, when examining whether a company is abusing its dominant position, other regulations outside of competition law may also be used. The dominant position is an important aspect for the examination of whether the consent to data processing was voluntary and therefore effective. The data processing cannot be justified by the fact that Meta finances itself with personalized advertising. Now the national court has to decide on the specific case.

dpa