Meta Platforms Ireland Limited – CJEU Judgment (Austria, 2024)

In 2018, Meta Platforms Ireland (“controller”) presented new Facebook terms of service to its users in the European Union, with a view of obtaining their consent. The data subject, a Facebook user, accepted the new terms of service presented by the controller. The data subject received advertisement for a female politician on the basis of the analysis that he was similar to other “customers” who “liked” her. He also regularly received advertising aimed at homosexuals and invitations to corresponding events. The data subject had publically referred to his homosexuality, but had never mentioned his sexual orientation on Facebook, nor published any sensitive data. He hadn’t authorised the controller to use the fields in his profile relating to his relationship status, employer, job title or education for the purposes of targeted advertising either. Those advertisements and invitations were not based directly on his sexual orientation or his “friends” on Facebook, but on an analysis of their particular interests. The data subject claimed that the controller recorded all data relating to him, including those obtained through third parties or plug-ins, and stored them for an indefinite period. Subsequently, during a panel discussion, the data subject referred to his sexual orientation during a speech aimed at criticizing the allegedly unlawful processing by the controller of data relating to his sexual orientation. The data subject therefore brought an action before the Landesgericht für Zivilsachen Wien (Regional Court for Civil Matters, Vienna, Austria) seeking enforcement, a declaration and an injunction concerning the allegedly unlawful processing of his personal data. His action was dismissed at first instance on 30 June 2020 and, on appeal, by the Oberlandesgericht Wien (Higher Regional Court, Vienna, Austria) on 7 December 2020. The data subject therefore lodged an appeal with the Oberster Gerichtshof (Supreme Court). The latter referred a total of four questio