After data incident

Class action possible for German Facebook users

Those affected are likely to receive at least 100 euros in compensation.

(Bild: AP)

Victims of a large-scale data theft at Facebook a few years ago will soon have a fairly simple way of claiming compensation free of charge in Germany. Millions of affected people living there could join a class action against the Facebook parent company Meta, announced the Federation of German Consumer Organizations in Berlin. 

This step would also mean that potential claims by consumers could no longer expire at the turn of the year. The background to this is an incident from 2021: Unknown persons had published data from around 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries on the internet. In Germany, around six million people are said to have been affected. Thousands of lawsuits poured in. Meta won many lawsuits and always claimed that the complaints were unfounded and without merit.

However, the conditions under which damages could be claimed were disputed for a long time. In mid-November, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled that it was sufficient to prove that you were one of the victims of the data theft. It is not necessary for the data to have been demonstrably misused, nor do those affected have to provide evidence that they are now affected in a particular way - for example in terms of fear and anxiety.

Presumably at least 100 euros in damages
However, the presiding judge in Karlsruhe said that damages could not be too high in the case of a mere loss of control, citing 100 euros as an example. If, for example, a person affected is also mentally impaired, this must be taken into account and the amount increased accordingly.

Anyone wishing to join the consumer advocates' model declaratory action will probably have to wait until the new year. The Federal Office of Justice must first open the register of claims, it was said.