Facebook Could Be Sued By A Group of Consumers For Illegally Sharing Personal Data

Facebook has been accused of illegally sharing users' personal data. (photo credit: pixabay)

JAKARTA - Facebook could be sued by consumer groups for breaches of privacy they commit. This was confirmed by an adviser to the European high court on Thursday, November 2. In the case of online gaming taking place in Germany it is believed to pave the way for similar actions throughout the European Union.

The case began in 2012 and is one of several privacy and antitrust issues facing Facebook in Europe, where regulators have introduced legislation to curb the power of the so-called tech giants and ensure more transparency.

"Member states may allow consumer protection associations to take representative action against personal data protection breaches," Richard de la Tour, an advocate general at the Luxembourg-based European Union Court of Justice (CJEU), said in an opinion quoted by Reuters.

Such action should be based on rights violations stemming directly from the GDPR, he added. This refers to important privacy rules the European Union adopted three years ago.

"We will analyze the opinion of the Advocate General. Legal clarity on the scope and process of the GDPR is important and we are pleased that the Court of the European Union considered the questions raised in this case." said a spokesperson for Meta Platforms Inc.

The GDPR stipulates that any request to collect personal data must be subject to clear and well-informed consent.

De la Tour said consumer bodies that defend the collective interests of consumers are very much in line with the GDPR's goal of establishing a high level of personal data protection.

Facebook found itself cornered after the German Federation of Consumer Organizations filed a lawsuit alleging that the social media network had allowed online gaming operators to improperly collect gamers' personal data.

The game was offered in the Facebook Application Center in 2012. By playing the game, users automatically agree to the sharing of personal data including email addresses. At the end of the game, they will receive a message saying that the app can post status, photos, and other information.

A court of the first instance in Germany has ruled in favor of the German federation. This led Facebook to appeal to a higher court, which then sought advice from the CJEU. Now Facebook has changed its privacy settings about it.