Class action lawsuit could see Meta users in Germany owed €5,000

It’s long been known that Meta — the parent company of social media and communication platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp — collects massive amounts of personal data on its users, and stores and shares this data globally as a major part of its business model.

Numerous lawsuits brought by people in Germany have challenged Meta’s practices here, suggesting that the company’s practices were not aligned with the the country’s (or indeed Europe’s) strict data protection laws.

A notable case landed in the Leipzig Regional Court last summer. Ultimately it was ruled that Facebook owed the plaintiff €5,000 in damages, because Meta’s methods were seen as a systemic violation of European data protection laws.

Crucially, according to reporting by Zeit and others, the court wrote in its decision that its finding could lead to other Facebook users joining a similar lawsuit. And now that’s happened.

The Consumer Protection Association (VSV) has since launched a class action lawsuit against Meta with the Hamburg Higher Regional Court.

If you, as a resident in Germany, have used either Facebook or Instagram you may be able to join the lawsuit, and potentially receive a pay-out from Meta in the future. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s the lawsuit about?

Meta is being sued for its handling of personal data specifically for users in Germany.

An informative website about the lawsuit explains: “The Meta Group illegally monitors large parts of the private lives of its users with the help of its ‘Meta Business Tools’.

“Meta secretly reads what you do on thousands of websites and apps, stores it, and earns billions with your monitoring. 50 million people are affected by meta-surveillance in Germany alone.

“This surveillance is illegal under European data protection law (GDPR).”

Who can join the lawsuit?

To join the collective lawsuit you need to meet two basic requirements:

• you must be a resident of Germany, and
• you must be a user of Instagram and/or Facebook

Essentially anyone who meets these conditions and feels their persona data may have been mishandled by Meta can add their name.

It’s estimated that around 50 million people in Germany are affected by Meta’s digital surveillance.

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How much compensation is being sought?

The collective action is seeking compensation of €5,000 for adult users, and €10,000 for underage users.

Note that if you use the link below to automatically join the lawsuit, a legal fee of 9.5 percent of any winnings awarded to you would be transferred to the litigation funder.

How can you join?

The easiest way to join the class action lawsuit is by registering at meta-klage.de.

There you’ll find a ‘register now’ button which will bring you to an initial contact form. You’ll need to enter a valid email address where a follow up questionnaire will be sent.

In the corresponding questionnaire you’ll be asked for some more information about your use of Facebook and Instagram, including the email and username on your accounts there and the dates you started using either platform.

The form is in German and takes around five minutes to fill out.

When you’ve successfully completed the form you should recieve a confirmation email from the consumer law firm bringing the suit, BK Baumeister & Kollegen, with a file number and a copy of the information you shared.

What are the chances of success?

So far German courts have ruled against Meta in roughly 50 percent of cases, according to information shared in the above-linked website.

Zeit reported that one lawyer, Max Baumeister, who brought the above mentioned case to the court in Leipzig, has won compensation for his clients in 700 out of 2,000 cases against Meta.

But so far nothing has been paid out for all 700 cases.

The advantage of the class action lawsuit in this case, is that plaintiffs don’t bear the risk of launching a lawsuit themselves — you can simply add your name to the list and then wait and see what happens.