Austria's top court just slammed Meta's entire business model. The ruling states the company illegally processes data for personalized ads without proper consent under EU law. Privacy activist Max Schrems brought the case and won. The court ordered Meta to hand over a complete copy of all its personal data, detailing its sources and uses, within fourteen days. It also banned the processing of sensitive information, like health or political views, without explicit user permission.
The judges shredded Meta's defenses. They rejected the claim that targeted ads are a necessary part of its social network contract. They also dismissed the idea that the company's existing data download tool meets legal standards, calling for a full one-to-one copy. Arguments about protecting trade secrets were thrown out for lack of evidence. Beyond the data order, the court upheld a five-hundred-euro damage award for Meta's slow response, a figure the plaintiff's lawyer, Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig, called a new baseline for similar European cases.
This decision ends an eleven-year legal fight that bounced between Austrian courts and the EU's highest tribunal. The total cost exceeded two hundred thousand euros. Meta now has a late December deadline next year to comply fully with the data access order. The ruling is enforceable across the entire European Union, setting a major precedent against the company's data practices.
The judges shredded Meta's defenses. They rejected the claim that targeted ads are a necessary part of its social network contract. They also dismissed the idea that the company's existing data download tool meets legal standards, calling for a full one-to-one copy. Arguments about protecting trade secrets were thrown out for lack of evidence. Beyond the data order, the court upheld a five-hundred-euro damage award for Meta's slow response, a figure the plaintiff's lawyer, Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig, called a new baseline for similar European cases.
This decision ends an eleven-year legal fight that bounced between Austrian courts and the EU's highest tribunal. The total cost exceeded two hundred thousand euros. Meta now has a late December deadline next year to comply fully with the data access order. The ruling is enforceable across the entire European Union, setting a major precedent against the company's data practices.
