AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Dutch Consumer’s Association, (“Consumentenbond”) and the Data Privacy Stichting (“DPS”) have won a landmark class action decision protecting the privacy rights of consumers against Facebook.* This clears the way for Dutch consumers to seek compensation from the tech giant for its misuse of their personal data. In addition, Consumentenbond and DPS will promptly initiate new claims against Facebook for violation of European data transfer laws.
March 15, 2023
The Amsterdam District Court today ruled (English translation here**) that Facebook had since 2010 violated the privacy of its Dutch users for a decade. The company did not sufficiently inform consumers about what their data was used for. Further, the Court found that Facebook misled its users by withholding essential information, and consumers did not provide permission to use the data for advertising purposes.
Important Signal
Sandra Molenaar, Consumentenbond Director, is pleased with the judgment: “This is an extremely important victory for consumers. The court rules harshly on Facebook. Facebook should not have used the data of all those millions of users in the Netherlands for advertising purposes. That is a groundbreaking judgment and sends a very strong signal. Not only towards Facebook, but also towards other tech companies that flout privacy legislation. Violations do not go unpunished.”
Dick Bouma, DPS Chairman: “With this ruling, consumers can finally receive compensation for the years of privacy violations by Facebook. It's now up to Facebook to provide that. To that end, together with Consumentenbond, we want to discuss this with the company.”
New Lawsuit
Consumentenbond and the DPS will also initiate a second lawsuit against Facebook. Molenaar: “The European Court of Justice ruled twice that by forwarding user data, the tech giant acted in violation of the European General Data Protection Regulations ('GDPR'). Despite this, Facebook continues to send personal data of its European users to America, where it is accessible to U.S. intelligence services. That is a gross violation of privacy.”
To Register
Consumers in the Netherlands who had a Facebook account between April 1, 2010 and January 1, 2020 and want to be eligible for compensation from Facebook for the use of their data can register with Consumentenbond.
Consumers who had a Facebook or Instagram account since May 25, 2018 and want to claim compensation for Facebook’s forwarding their data to America can also register here. Consumers can sign up for either or both claims.
Without Permission
Consumentenbond and the DPS filed their lawsuit against Facebook because the company collected private data from its users and their Facebook friends for years and made this data accessible to third parties without permission, resulting in enormous financial profits to the company. Furthermore, Facebook users were also misled by Facebook’s withholding essential information about how the data was used.
* To Editors: Facebook refers to Meta platforms Ireland ltd, Facebook's European headquarters.
** The translation is a machine translation which has not been verified by an official translator. For more information, please contact:
Gerard Spierenburg, Consumentenbond
mailto:mgspierenburg@consumentenbond.nl
+31 621528743