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Update:
- The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled that a proposed £2.3 billion class action lawsuit against Meta Platforms Inc. will fail unless the plaintiffs overhaul their claims stating it engaged in unfair pricing.
- A class of 45 million consumers accuse Meta of earning an excessive amount of profit from their data.
- The tribunal says it refuses to certify the class unless the plaintiffs create a new blueprint for the claims, citing problems with how consumers would be compensated in the event their case was successful.
- Meta argues the value of consumer data is too subjective to be pinned down to a set amount.
Meta class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: The Competition Appeal Tribunal will decide whether to certify a Meta data-collection class action lawsuit.
- Why: The £2.3 billion Meta class action lawsuit alleges the company abuses its dominant market power to force Facebook users to turn over control of their personal data.
- Where: The Meta class action lawsuit will be heard by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
(Jan. 31, 2023)
The Competition Appeal Tribunal will soon decide whether to certify a class of Facebook users in a class action lawsuit challenging Meta data-collection practices, Law360 has reported.
Dr. Liza Lovdahl Gormsen filed the Meta class action lawsuit on behalf of 44 million people in the United Kingdom. She alleges Meta Platforms Inc. abuses its market position by essentially forcing Facebook users to relinquish control of their personal data to use the massive social networking site.
Meta is able to reap “excessive profits” from this “unfair bargain,” the Meta class action lawsuit alleges.
Meta class action argues company abuses market dominance to impose unfair privacy collection on users
The Competition Appeal Tribunal is holding a four-day hearing beginning Jan. 30 to determine whether to certify the £2.3 billion Meta class action lawsuit. This case will reportedly be the first case involving data privacy concerns to be heard by the tribunal.
“This is a case about a dominant undertaking engaging in unfair trading practices,” Gormsen argues. “If you look at the Competition Act 1998, it says that conduct may constitute an abuse ‘if it consists in — directly or imposing unfair purchase or selling prices or other unfair trading conditions.’”
“So Facebook’s behavior falls squarely within competition law. It is literally there. In black and white.”
Lawyers are paying close attention to this Meta privacy class action lawsuit because it could have a significant impact on other tech privacy collective actions. In the case of Lloyd v. Google, the U.K. Supreme Court limited the scope for class action lawsuits to make it more difficult to bring class action lawsuits involving privacy claims.
A Meta Platforms Ireland class action lawsuit alleges the social media company violates U.K. and EU privacy laws by denying Facebook users the ability to opt out of having their personal data used for marketing purposes.
What do you think about the Meta data-collection practices? Let us know in the comments.
Gormsen is represented by Ronit Kreisberger KC and Nikolaus Grubeck of Monckton Chambers, Sarah Ford KC of Brick Court Chambers and Greg Adey of One Essex Court, instructed by Katherine Vernon, Leo Kitchen and Trevor Soames of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP.
The Meta class action lawsuit is Dr. Liza Lovdahl Gormsen v. Meta Platforms Inc., et al., Case No. 1433/7/7/22, in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
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