As Europe continues to grapple with data privacy, major EU legal decisions have raised fresh complaints against Meta’s legal basis for online ad targeting.
In the last few months, several court rulings have been issued in the EU which have questioned Meta’s legal right to process and allow individuals’ data for ads targeting. These rulings, which were made by the European Court of Justice, have cited privacy concerns and put into question Meta’s ability to legally handle user data.
The latest ruling, handed down in June, was one of the hardest hitting decisions against Meta. The Court found that Meta did not have the legal basis to process individual data for ad targeting based on “profiling”. Meta allows companies to target users with ads based on an analysis of their user data, which is done without explicit consent.
This case was an important landmark for data privacy in the EU, as it addressed the use of individual data for targeted ads and the rights of individuals to have control over their own data. In particular, it showed that Meta had to have explicit consent in order to use individual data for ad targeting.
However, the issue still remains, as this case sets the legal basis for all other online ad targeting activities in the EU. Some argue that the ruling is too broad and could have unintended consequences on the way in which targeted ads are conducted in the EU.
Indeed, some companies have argued that the ruling could hamper their ability to conduct targeted advertisements in the EU. They argue that they need access to personal user data in order to effectively target ads and that the ruling may interfere with their ability to do so.
Ultimately, the ruling will affect how many companies conduct targeted ads in the EU, as Meta will need to fundamentally change its practices to comply with this new ruling. It remains to be seen how this will affect the online ad industry in the region, and whether or not it leads to a more robust legal framework for ad targeting.
