The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Meta must limit its use of personal data from Facebook for targeted advertising. This is true even if users agree to use their data for ads. The court said social networks cannot use personal data for advertisements without any time limits.
They must follow the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules about only using necessary data. The case was brought by privacy activist Max Schrems in 2014. He said Facebook targeted him with personalized ads based on his sexual orientation.
EU court restricts Meta’s data use
The court explained that just because someone talks about their sexual orientation publicly, it does not mean a social network can use other data about their orientation from outside the platform for targeted ads. The privacy group, NOYB, welcomed the ruling.
They said it applies to any online ad company that does not have strict data deletion practices. Meta said it has worked hard to build privacy into its products. It stated it does not use sensitive user data to personalize ads or let advertisers share this data type.
This ruling comes amid other privacy concerns, like the recent lawsuit against TikTok in Texas for allegedly violating child privacy laws.
Noah Nguyen is a multi-talented developer who brings a unique perspective to his craft. Initially a creative writing professor, he turned to Dev work for the ability to work remotely. He now lives in Seattle, spending time hiking and drinking craft beer with his fiancee.
