The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg has issued a ruling that prohibits social media giant Meta from using public information about a user's sexual orientation obtained outside its platforms for personalized advertising under the EU's data privacy regulations.
This decision comes as a victory for Austrian privacy activist who has been challenging Big Tech companies over their compliance with the EU's data privacy rules.
The case was brought to the EU court after Austria's supreme court sought guidance on applying the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in a complaint filed by the privacy activist against Facebook.
The activist, who had never publicly disclosed his sexual orientation on his Facebook account except during a panel discussion, argued that Facebook had used this information to target him with personalized advertising.
The court's ruling emphasized that online social networks like Facebook cannot use personal data for targeted advertising without restrictions on time and type of data.
Even though the activist revealed his sexual orientation during a panel discussion, the court stated that this does not authorize the platform to process other data related to his sexual orientation obtained from external sources for advertising purposes.
Meta, formerly known as Facebook, stated that it takes privacy seriously and provides users with tools to manage their information.
The activist's lawyer welcomed the court's decision, highlighting the importance of data minimization under EU law and limiting the use of personal data for advertising purposes.
This ruling is expected to have implications for how social media companies handle user data for advertising in the EU.
