In the future, Meta will no longer be allowed to use as much personal data for online advertising in the EU as before. Furthermore, the social network operator may use publicly available data only for the purposes for which it was originally published. About this decision (C-446/21) came to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in a case brought against Facebook parents by Austrian data protection activist Max Schrems.
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Schrems made a statement about his sexual orientation during a public panel discussion. According to the ECJ judges, this does not give the operator of an online social network the right to process and analyze other data about his sexual orientation and to deliver personalized advertising to him.
certain data under special protection
Schrems complained in Austria that Meta was not following the principle of “data minimization” from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and was storing all online behavior rather than limiting processing to the extent necessary. Schrems also argued that, for example, data on sexual orientation was under special protection in the GDPR and could only be used in certain exceptional cases.
Such an exception exists, for example, if the information has already been made public. To clarify this question in principle, the Austrian Supreme Court referred the case to the ECJ. It has now taken a preliminary decision; The final decision in the specific case is up to the Austrian Supreme Court in accordance with the ECJ’s requirements.
The ECJ had already answered some questions in previous proceedings and had, for example, strengthened the competition authorities’ competition surveillance over Meta and its services Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
no specific time limit
The GDPR itself does not specify any specific time limits on what data can be stored and for how long, but only sets out general principles. The ECJ has now written in its judgment that the unlimited storage of personal data of users of social networks for the purposes of targeted advertising should be seen as an incompatible interference with rights.
Lawyer Katharina Rabe-Stupnig, who represents Max Schrems, According to a statement explained: “We are very satisfied with the decision, even though this outcome was certainly expected.” Meta has been generating a large pool of data from its users for 20 years, which is constantly growing. However, EU law requires data minimization.
According to this ruling, Meta is allowed to use only a small portion of the data for advertising purposes – even if users agree to the advertising. “This ruling also applies to all other online advertising companies, who often do not have data minimization procedures in place,” explains the lawyer.
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