Meta may not use sexuality data for targeted advertising, EU top court has ruled

In the social network’s recent legal battle with Austrian data protection activist Max Schrems, the EU Court of Justice declared that Facebook was not allowed to process data about a user’s sexuality for the purpose of targeted advertising, even though Schrems had publicly announced his sexual orientation.

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Schrems claimed that Facebook bombarded him with targeted advertising after he revealed his sexual orientation during a public panel.

“According to this ruling, only a small part of Meta’s data pool may be used for advertising – even if the users agree to the advertising,” said Katharina Raabe-Stuppnig, Schrems’ lawyer.

The EU’s top court intervened after Austria’s Supreme Court asked it for guidance on the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

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Facebook has faced further regulatory scrutiny over its tracking of its users’ web browsing and smartphone apps for the purpose of targeted advertising under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which came into full force earlier this year. The company was also fined a record 1.2 billion euros by the Irish Data Protection Authority last year for illegally transferring European user data to the US.

The file number is C-446/21.

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