EU court ruling on Meta may impact first party cookie use
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued an anticipated ruling that could significantly impact Meta’s ability to track user data without their explicit consent, a practice often associated with surveillance capitalism. The decision traces its origin back to the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) in Germany, which argued that privacy harm should be categorized as exploitative competition abuse. In 2019, the FCO ordered Facebook (now Meta) to stop merging data across its various platforms without user permission. Despite attempts by Meta to block this order in German courts, it was subsequently referred to the CJEU.
This judgment by Europe’s highest court is sure to cause concern at Meta headquarters. The CJEU not only supports the idea of incorporating data protection considerations into antitrust assessments but also emphasizes that consent is essential for tracking and profiling activities involved in delivering personalized content and behavioral advertising – key strategies of Meta’s monetization approach. As per EU data protection law, users must have the option to refuse such tracking while still being able to avail themselves of core services – an alternative that Meta has historically not given its users.
The significance of this ruling extends beyond just Meta; it signals a legal precedent that cannot be disregarded by EU data protection authorities. This turns up the heat on those regulatory bodies that have been perceived as lax in enforcing General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules against tech giants under their purview. The CJEU judgement may finally bring closure to a long-standing issue with ad-funded business models like those employed by Meta and potentially instigate a new wave of litigation against entities processing sensitive user information without specific consent.
As reactions pour in from around Europe, Max Schrems, known for his privacy rights advocacy and launching the original complaint against Meta’s “forced consent”, has labeled this day as “GDPR meltdown day for Meta”. He believes that this judgment will force Meta and similar companies towards seeking proper user consent rather than leveraging their dominant market position to coerce compliance from users. The Federal Cartel Office’s president Andreas Mundt hailed this verdict as sending a strong message for competition law enforcement in digital economies where data plays a crucial role.
Read more:
- EU’s ruling against Facebook a big blow to first-party data usage
- CJEU ruling on Meta referral could close the chapter on surveillance capitalism
- ‘Huge blow for Meta’ as EU’s top court sinks legal basis for targeted advertising on Facebook
