The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that Meta must reduce the amount of personal data it uses for targeted advertising. The ruling came in favour of privacy advocate Max Schrems, who had filed complaints against Facebook for misusing his personal data, specifically his sexual orientation, to target him with ads.
Schrems initially raised the issue in Austrian courts in 2020, alleging that Facebook showed him adverts aimed at the LGBTQ+ community despite him never having shared such information. The CJEU stated that data protection laws do not automatically allow the use of such sensitive information for personalised advertising.
In its ruling, the CJEU explained that social networks like Facebook cannot use all collected personal data for advertising without restrictions. Sensitive data, such as sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, and health, is subject to stricter processing rules under EU law.
Meta responded, saying it does not use sensitive data for targeted ads and expressed commitment to privacy. “We await the full publication of the Court’s judgment and will provide further information in due course,” a Meta spokesperson said. The company emphasized that it takes privacy seriously, having invested over five billion euros in privacy protection for its products.
Schrems’ lawyer, Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig, expressed satisfaction with the decision, stating, “Following this ruling, only a small portion of Meta’s data pool can be used for ads, even with user consent.”
Dr Maria Tzanou, a senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield, commented, “This judgment shows that data protection laws are not toothless. They matter when big tech companies process personal data.”
