Facebook, the giant social media platform unlawfully processed Dutch users’ details without permission for advertisement intents for almost a decade, Amsterdam-based judges ruled on Wednesday.
The judgment by the Amsterdam District Court said Facebook Ireland not only processed the data for advertisement but also handed it to third parties without properly reporting people or having lawful bases to do so.
Facebook Ireland has broken the law when processing personal data of Dutch Facebook users in the period from April 1, 2010 to January 1, 2020. It processed personal data without a legal basis — such as consent — for this.”
the judges said in a statement issued by the court.
Judges however turned down a third lawsuit that the usage of online “cookies”, digital trackers used to target advertisements, was illegal on third-party sites, as the accountability to notify users were transferred to the appropriate website operators by Facebook Ireland.
The declaration comes after a 2019 class act case carried by the Dutch-based Data Privacy Foundation, an internet watchdog that says it fights for the rights of online users against firms “exploiting our details”, funded by the country’s Consumers Association.
The judges did not oversee claims in the case, but the Data Privacy Foundation’s chairman Dick Bouma said it unlocked the door for consumers to receive “compensation for years of privacy violations by Facebook.” He told the NU.nl Dutch news website that It’s now up to Facebook to provide this (compensation). We would like to discuss this with them.
Meta, the Facebook owner said in a statement to AFP said it was satisfied the court ruled in favor of Meta for multiple of these historic claims, some of which took place over a decade ago.
We intend to appeal other aspects of this case.”
the statement said.
The Dutch court’s determination followed a mega fine against Meta in early January, totaling 390 million euros ($410 million) , for breaching EU personal data laws on Facebook and Instagram.
