Foundation behind case against TikTok claims billions from Facebook

The Dutch Market Information Research Foundation (SOMI) is starting a claim case against Facebook parent company Meta Platforms due to privacy violations on the social media platform. The foundation, which previously started a case against TikTok, says it is claiming 10.5 billion euros for all Dutch Facebook users and is calling on people to register for a procedure.

This is an issue for which Facebook was fined 265 million euros last year by the Irish privacy watchdog DPC. A few years ago, the data of more than half a billion Facebook users around the world was leaked to hackers, who then stole it and even offered phone numbers for sale.

According to SOMI, Meta "has violated privacy laws on a large scale by giving unauthorized persons access to the personal data of Facebook users." More than 5 million people in the Netherlands are said to have been affected by the leak. The Meta also accuses Meta of poorly handling user data for years.

Compensation

According to SOMI, every Dutch user should therefore receive 500 euros in compensation. The foundation believes that compensation should be 1,000 euros for every Dutch user who was affected by the data breach in April 2021.

A spokesperson for Meta in the Netherlands could not be reached for comment. The US headquarters has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Collection of data

The case against the popular app TikTok revolves around the collection of children's data so that they see targeted advertisements without properly requesting permission. Parents believe that the app does not properly protect the safety and privacy of their offspring and, according to an earlier statement from SOMI, want a total of around 1.4 billion euros in compensation.

The substantive case against TikTok has yet to be heard by a judge. According to SOMI, this will probably happen next year. The foundation says it has only just been declared admissible by the court in Amsterdam. This is necessary to continue the procedure. Two other foundations are also involved in the case, Stichting Take Back Your Privacy and Stichting Massaschade & Consument. They would first have to sort out agreements with their commercial process financiers. If they are also declared admissible, one of the foundations must be appointed as lead plaintiff.

Read the full article (in Dutch): https://www.nd.nl/varia/varia/1197430/stichting-achter-zaak-tegen-tiktok-claimt-miljarden-van-facebook