That’s another loss for Meta and another win for privacy activist Max Schrems.
A court has ruled that Meta can’t use sexual orientation to target ads which limits how the company can use off-platform activity and public statements to target ads. The Court of Justice of the European Union has finally ruled after a long case against Meta, stating that information can’t be used for advertising, even if that person publicly states they are gay.
“Meta Platforms Ireland collects the personal data of Facebook users, including Mr. Schrems, concerning those users’ activities both on and outside that social network. With the data available to it, Meta Platforms Ireland is also able to identify Mr. Schrems’ interest in sensitive topics, such as sexual orientation, which enables it to direct targeted advertising at him,” the court said.
The case started in 2014, with Schrems complaining about seeing advertising on Meta targeting his sexual orientation. He claimed, based on data, that Meta can deduce his sexuality from proxies, such as his app logins or website visits.
“Now we know that if you’re on a public stage, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you agree to this personal data being processed,” says Schrems. “It’s a really, really niche problem.”
Schrems has been a well-known campaigner against Meta ever since a surprise victory in 2015 that invalidated a transatlantic data transfer system over concerns that U.S. spies could use it to access EU data.
“It’s really important to set ground rules,” says Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig, the lawyer representing Mr. Schrems. “There are some companies who think they can just disregard them and get a competitive advantage from this behavior.”