An adviser to the European Union's Supreme Court has recommended that Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook should be banned from using public information about users' sexual orientation for targeted advertising, citing the bloc's strict data protection laws.
The opinion comes in a case involving privacy activist Max Schrems, who has a history of challenging Facebook's data practices. Advocate General Athanasios Rantos of the Court of Justice of the EU suggested that even publicly available data on sexual orientation should be protected from exploitation for personalized advertising purposes.
The opinion was given after Austria's highest court requested an opinion from the EU's highest court on the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This follows a loss for Facebook last year when a top court in the EU upheld a German antitrust injunction targeting the US tech giant's ability to monetize large amounts of user data.
Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig, a lawyer representing Schrems, said: “The fact that some information is public does not mean that it can be used for other purposes.” She warned that allowing unrestricted use of public information could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
A Meta spokesperson referred to an earlier statement clarifying that Facebook “does not use sensitive data that users provide to us to personalize ads.”
Rantos also recommended that the GDPR ban the processing of personal data for targeted advertising without a time limit. In addition, judges must assess whether Facebook's retention of personal data for personalized advertising is proportionate.
This latest opinion adds to the growing criticism Facebook is facing in the EU when it comes to tracking users' online activities and using smartphone apps for targeted advertising, under the bloc's recently introduced lines.
The court's final ruling, which will be binding, is expected within a few months. The case number for this case is C-446/21.
(With input from Bloomberg)
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Published: Apr 25, 2024 6:12 PM IST