Facebook Ireland Guilty Of User Privacy Breach During 2010-2020, Dutch Court Finds

A Dutch court hearing a class action lawsuit on Wednesday held Meta Platforms, Inc's META Facebook Ireland responsible for misusing the personal data of Dutch citizens from 2010 - 2020.
Facebook illegally shared personal information with third parties for advertising without informing Facebook users, Reuters reports citing the Amsterdam court ruling.
Facebook Ireland is part of the company that governs the processing of Dutch user data.
A spokesperson for the plaintiff, Data Privacy Stichting, said the group now hopes to sit down with Facebook to negotiate a settlement.
Spokesperson Gerard Spierenburg said, "We think this is a very strong signal not only to Facebook but to all companies that are unrightfully using their users' data."
A spokesperson for Meta said the company was "pleased" with parts of the decision but would appeal others, noting that some of the claims date back more than a decade.
Spierenburg said 190,000 had signed up for the initiative. Still, roughly 10 million Dutch people who used Facebook during the relevant period can join if the case moves to a damages phase.
Meta has faced several user privacy allegations. In January, Facebook urged a London tribunal to block a collective lawsuit worth up to £3 billion ($3.7 billion) for allegedly abusing its influence to monetize users' data.
The social media giant faced mass action from around 45 million Facebook users in Britain.
Last August, Meta reached a $37.5 million settlement regarding a 2018 lawsuit alleging Facebook of tracking U.S. user movements through their smartphones without permission.
In 2022, Meta settled a lawsuit alleging Facebook of its use of tracking "cookies" in 2010 and 2011 to track subscribers' internet use even after they had logged off the platform.
Price Action: META shares traded lower by 0.62% at $192.82 on the last check Wednesday.

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