Germany: Federal Court of Justice issued ruling in Federation of German Consumer Organisations v Meta Platforms Ireland regarding General Data Protection Regulation violations in Facebook App Center data processing (File number: I ZR 186/17)

On 27 March 2025, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that consumer protection associations and competitors may take legal action against data protection violations under competition law. The case concerned Facebook’s “App Centre,” where users were not adequately informed about the collection and use of their personal data, including email addresses and profile information, when accessing third-party games. The BGH found that this lack of transparency breached the information requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Articles 12 and 13) and constituted an unfair commercial practice under German competition law. It also determined that a clause permitting apps to post content on users’ behalf was an unfair contract term. The ruling confirmed that consumer groups can seek GDPR compliance enforcement without identifying specific affected users.