Dutch Court Rules Facebook Improperly Used Citizens' Personal Data

A Dutch court ruled on Wednesday that Facebook improperly used citizens’ personal information between 2010 and 2020. According to the court, Mark Zuckerberg and the Masters of the Universe “violated the law.”

Reuters reports that a Dutch court found on Wednesday that Facebook Ireland improperly used Dutch citizens’ personal information between 2010 and 2020, stating that the company “violated the law.” Although the case has not yet reached the point at which damages could be demanded, Facebook (now known as Meta) is anticipated to appeal some aspects of the judgment.

According to the Amsterdam court decision, personal data was processed for advertising in ways that are not legal. The court also discovered that personal information was disclosed to third parties without the consent of Facebook users and without a valid legal justification.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrives at the European (Parliament, prior to his audition on the data privacy scandal on May 22, 2018 at the European Union headquarters in Brussels. (JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Facebook Ireland is the division in charge of monitoring the handling of user data from the Netherlands. The decision has been praised as sending a clear message to Facebook and other businesses that engage in surveillance capitalism by misusing the private data of their users.

A Facebook representative said the company has mixed feelings about the decision, adding that while it was “pleased” with some parts of it, it would appeal others. Some of the claims, the company pointed out, go back more than ten years. The spokesperson stated, “We know that privacy is important to our Dutch users and we want them to have control over how their data is used.”

The plaintiff, Data Privacy Stichting, was happy with the result. Spokesperson Gerard Spierenburg said, “It’s a pretty big decision, and we’re obviously very glad. We think this is a very strong signal not only to Facebook but to all companies that are unrightfully using their users’ data.” The group now hopes to negotiate a settlement with Facebook.

In order to pursue damages on behalf of impacted users, Data Privacy Stichting was established in 2020 as a collaboration between a number of law firms and the Dutch Consumers’ Association. 190,000 people had signed up for the group, Spierenburg stated. If the case proceeds to the damages phase, any of the roughly 10 million Dutch users of Facebook between 2010 and 2020 can join the lawsuit.