Case C-446/21 in the Court of Justice of the EU features Maximilian Schrems, a well-known privacy activist, and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, the company responsible for Facebook’s operations in Europe.
This dispute represents a relevant moment in the ongoing debate over the economic model based on personalized advertising obtained by social networks through the collection and analysis of users’ personal data. The legal implications of this case are important, as they directly touch on Meta’s new post-GDPR terms of use and legal interpretations arising from court precedents.
In this installment we will explore in detail the various aspects of the case, court precedents, and court decisions, with the goal of providing a clear and comprehensive understanding of the context and consequences of this important legal case.
Matter
Case C-446/21 concerns a dispute originating from Facebook’s business model of personalized advertising obtained through the collection and analysis of users’ personal data.
Meta Platforms Ireland adopted new terms of use following the entry into force of the GDPR on May 25, 2018. Schrems agreed to these new terms in order to continue using Facebook but later sued Meta for using its own personal data for promotional purposes, including sensitive personal data partially acquired from third parties.
