European Union: Issued CJEU Preliminary Ruling on consumer protection association's standing against Meta

On 28 April 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued a preliminary ruling concerning a case referred by the German Federal Court of Justice in a case on the standing of the Verbraucherverband Bundeszentrale (the Federation of German Consumer Organisations) to enter into proceedings against Meta for breaches of the GDPR. At issue was whether such an association is entitled to bring proceedings for breaches of the GDPR regarding infringements of specific data subject rights independently and without being mandated by data subjects, where national rules establish such standing on the basis of the prohibition of unfair practices, breaches of a consumer protection law, or the prohibition of the use of invalid terms and conditions. The CJEU has ruled that EU law does not preclude associations from bringing civil proceedings under national laws, which would allow the Verbraucherverband Bundeszentrale to begin proceedings against Meta in Germany.