Compensation beckons for 230,000 Dutch people in case against Facebook after huge fine | Tech

Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, has been sending user data to the United States for years, according to critics, without ensuring that their privacy would be guaranteed there. The company earns billions of euros from advertising sales. The regulators of the European Union want such a thing to be made legally impossible in the future. They fear that this data could fall into the hands of American intelligence services. “The amount of stored data is enormous,” said Andrea Jelinek, president of the European Data Protection Board, in a statement. “This unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that such serious violations have far-reaching consequences.”

Thanks to Facebook, the American intelligence services can request ‘huge amounts of personal data’ from EU residents, says the Consumers’ Association. “Facebook cooperates in this, which means that it infringes the privacy of users of Facebook and Instagram in the Netherlands.” According to the Consumers’ Association, the fine that Meta now has to pay is ‘the ultimate proof that the net is starting to close down around Facebook’. “The amount does justice to the violation that Facebook has committed,” says director Sandra Molenaar. “The rights of millions of consumers have been trampled underfoot. That is a terrifying amount. And that is this fine.”

The highest European court ruled twice that Facebook may not forward consumer data to servers outside Europe without proper safeguards. “And yet the company will continue with this,” sighs Dick Bouma, chairman of the Data Privacy Foundation. “It is high time that Facebook is called to order, stops violating consumer rights and starts compensating consumers. Facebook is not above the law and must abide by the rules just like everyone else.”

It is not the first time that CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s company has had to pay a lot for a fine in Ireland. For example, in September the DPC imposed a fine of 405 million euros on Meta subsidiary Instagram and in November there was already a fine of 265 million euros for Meta itself. The total amount of fines amounts to about 1.3 billion euros. This is now 1.2 billion euros on top. Under European data law, companies can be investigated by the privacy watchdog of the country where they have their European headquarters. DPC currently has a total of eleven investigations into parts of Meta.

In the Netherlands, too, Facebook has acted carelessly with the processing of Dutch personal data. The court in Amsterdam ruled in March that the data of Facebook users from the Netherlands had been used for advertising purposes without permission. The data processed by Facebook included, for example, sexual orientation or religion. The case only revolved around the question of whether Facebook acted unlawfully. The court stated that no compensation could therefore be claimed from the social media company.

Facebook claimed two years ago that the case could not be heard in the Netherlands, because the company, with a European headquarters in Ireland, would fall under Irish law. Facebook also found that DPS could not file a report because it was not an injured party. The judge declared those objections unfounded, after which the case could be assessed on the merits. “The court’s ruling is therefore a great victory for us, truly groundbreaking,” the Consumers’ Association said at the time. AP know. Director Molenaar spoke of a signal to other tech companies.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, said it would appeal certain points in the lawsuit. The company Platforms is considering leaving Europe if the group is no longer allowed to exchange data from European users with the United States.

By now already have more than 230,000 Dutch consumers registered with the Consumer Association.