Meta Ordered to Pay €5,000 Fine to User in Germany
American giant Meta was today ordered by a German court to pay €5,000 to a Facebook user for violating European data protection regulations — a ruling that could pave the way for further lawsuits.
The "high" fine is justified by "the fact that Meta massively violates European data protection laws" through its "business" tools designed to profile Facebook users and generate billions through targeted advertising, stated the Regional Court in Leipzig — reports N1.
This practice violates European law because it results in almost constant surveillance of users' private lives, even when they are not logged into their Facebook or Instagram accounts, both owned by Meta, the court stated.
Unlike other jurisdictions in Germany, the court in Leipzig did not refer to national privacy laws, but only to European law.
Meta can appeal the decision.
The European platform of the American giant, based in Ireland, systematically transfers private data to third countries worldwide, including the United States, where the data is exploited "on a scale unknown to the user", the Leipzig judge noted.
The court added that with this ruling, it is "aware" that it "risks encouraging many Facebook users to file lawsuits without proving specific individual harm."
