A German court announced on Monday that individuals whose data was unlawfully accessed on Facebook during 2018 and 2019 are entitled to compensation. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) determined that the loss of control over personal data online constitutes a valid basis for damages, eliminating the necessity to demonstrate specific financial losses.
Numerous Facebook users in Germany are seeking compensation from Meta Platforms, Inc. for inadequate data protection, following incidents where unauthorized third parties accessed user accounts by guessing phone numbers. These claims are linked to a data breach that occurred in 2021, involving information obtained through the Facebook friend search feature. A lower court in Cologne had previously dismissed these claims, but they will now undergo further examination.
The plaintiff sought damages amounting to 1,000 euros ($1,056); however, the BGH indicated that a compensation of approximately 100 euros would be suitable without the need for proof of financial loss. The court, based in Karlsruhe, instructed the lower court to assess whether Facebook’s terms of service were clear and understandable, as well as whether users’ consent for data usage was given voluntarily.
Meta had previously declined to provide compensation, arguing that the affected users had failed to demonstrate any tangible damages. A spokesperson for Meta criticized the BGH’s ruling, stating that it contradicts recent decisions by the European Court of Justice, the continent’s highest judicial authority. The spokesperson noted that similar claims have been dismissed 6,000 times by German courts, with many judges concluding that no liability or damages claims were valid, asserting that Facebook’s systems were not compromised in this incident and that no data breach occurred.
