Is the infographic model dead?

European Justice is increasing attacks against the conduct of Meta’s activities. After setting Brakes Unprecedented in its strategy regarding generative AI, the business model of its social networks appears to be in serious question.

He urged Meta to revise his version

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that a social network – such as Facebook – cannot use the personal data of its users for targeted purposes. Advertising purposes without time limit and without distinction based on their nature. This rulingwhich was delivered on October 4, 2024, appears to force Meta to review its advertising copy on its social media networks to comply with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The facts giving rise to the dispute are as follows: Maximilian Schrems appealed to the Austrian courts the unlawful processing of his personal data by Facebook’s Irish subsidiary Meta (Meta Platforms Ireland). More specifically, he criticized the company for targeting him with “Advertisements targeting LGBT audiences and invitations to corresponding eventsThese advertisements were not based directly on the sexual orientation of the applicant and his or her “friends” on the social network, but rather on “An analysis of their interests, in this case around the fact that one of Mr. Schrems’s friends tagged the product by clicking the “Like” button.“.

Data obtained from third party websites

After analysis, the applicant concluded that the data allowing Facebook to display these ads to him was never provided by him. This was, in fact, information taken from consulting third-party websites and obtained by third parties, which Facebook had access to via cookies.Social plugins” and pixels. This practice violates some provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, in particular those relating to consent to the processing of personal data, as the applicant declared in his complaint before the Austrian courts. This is the country’s Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) which asked a preliminary question to the court Justice of the European Union (a procedure allowing a request for interpretation of a European text).
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