Meta Challenges EU data demands, Raising Privacyโข Concerns at โTop Court
A legal battle between Meta and the European Commission has escalated, reaching the EU’s highest court with Meta fiercely contesting the scope of antitrust investigations. The coreโ of the dispute centers on the methods used by regulators to gather evidence, with Meta arguing some requests are excessively intrusive and violate privacy rights.
The case, stemming from investigations launched four years ago, raises a critical question: what limits, if any, exist on โthe European Commission’s โฃpower to โคdemand data โขduring antitrust โฃprobes? Metaโค contends that the Commission’s requests have crossed a line, seeking details far beyond what is necessary for โฃaโฃ legitimate investigation.
According to Daniel jowell, Meta’s lawyer, investigators demanded access to deeply personal documents, โincluding autopsy reports of employees’ family members, children’s school records, and sensitive personal security details. โ “This type of aberrant, intrusive and disproportionate request should, according toโฃ ourโข respectful submission, never have โbeen made,” jowell argued before the Court โคof Justice of the European Unionโ (CJEU). Meta views these demandsโ as an attempt to โฃcollectโข both professional data and private โsecrets.
The dispute extends beyond this specificโ case, possibly โsetting a precedent for theโฃ investigative powers of the European Commission. The central issue is whether the โฃCommission’s authority โis “effectively unlimited” or must be constrained โคby principles of necessity, proportionality, and the basic right to privacy.
A key point of contention lies in the keywords used to filterโ internalโ documents. Metaโ claims the commissionโ initially requested approximately 2,500 search termsโ for the data case โคand 600โ for the Facebook Marketplace case, resulting in the production of nearly a million documents.
Though, the European Commission,โฃ represented by Giuseppe Conte, disputes these figures. Conteโ asserts the Commission largely adopted keywordsโค initially proposed by Meta following a 2019 decision, and maintains the โคnumber of terms used was in the hundreds, not โthousands – a common practice among globalโ competition authorities.
This appeal to the CJEU follows an unsuccessful challenge at a โlower court and occurs amidst already strained relations. Lastโข year, the European regulator โfined Meta 798 million euros for linking its Facebook Marketplaceโค service โฃto its social network, โdeeming the practice imposed unfair conditionsโฃ on competitors. โค
the CJEU’s decision, expectedโข next year, will be pivotal in determining the extent of judicial oversight applicable to โคincreasingly stringent regulatory demands. The ruling will clarify whether effective checks and balances exist to protect privacy and ensure proportionality in the face of โexpansive investigative โpowers.
