Description

Referral to the European Court of Justice

On 24 March 2021, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (DHRC) suspended the proceedings in the case Facebook v. Bundeskartellamt and referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for interpretation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The case was brought before the court by Facebook appealing the German competition authority's decision that the company abused its dominant position on the market by combining user data. On 6 February 2019, Bundeskartellamt imposed restrictions regarding the way Facebook was collecting, and processing user data and the company was required to obtain “voluntary consent" from consumers before it combines and uses the data. The Bundeskartellamt determined during its investigation that Facebook was collecting data through services it owns (WhatsApp and Instagram), third-party websites and Facebook Analytics and combining it without the users' consent.

Original source

Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Unilateral conduct regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
platform intermediary: user-generated content
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
judiciary
Government Body
court

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2019-02-06
in force

The Federal Cartel Office (FCO) rules that excessive data collection by platforms (i.c. Facebook) o…

2019-08-26
under appeal

Court of appeals suspends the application of the the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) ruling that excess…

2020-06-23
in force

Supreme court overturns the court of appeals and upholds the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) ruling tha…

2021-03-24
under deliberation

On 24 March 2021, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (DHRC) suspended the proceedings in the case…

2021-03-24
under investigation

On 24 March 2021, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court (DHRC) suspended the proceedings in the case…

2022-09-20
under deliberation

On 20 September 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Advocate General's Opinion …

2023-07-04
in force

On 4 July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its ruling in case C‑252/2…

2024-10-10
concluded

On 10 October 2024, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) closed its investigation into Meta (formerly Fa…