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Berlin – A German court has ruled against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, finding its “Friends Finder” feature to be in violation of data privacy laws. The decision, handed down by the Berlin Regional Court on December 2, 2025 (case number 15 O 569/18), centers on the practice of collecting and processing data from individuals who are not Facebook users. This ruling signals a significant challenge to Meta’s data collection practices and reinforces the importance of user consent under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The core of the dispute lies in how Friends Finder operates. When activated by Facebook users, the feature uploads contacts stored on a user’s smartphone to Meta’s servers. Critically, this upload included the personal data of individuals who had not consented to having their information shared with Facebook, effectively circumventing their right to privacy. As Ramona Pop, board member of the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv), stated, “So bekommt Meta auch Daten von Leuten, die gar nicht bei Facebook registriert sind – etwa weil sie das soziale Netzwerk bewusst nicht nutzen.” (So Meta also gets data from people who are not registered on Facebook – for example, because they deliberately do not use the social network.)
How Friends Finder Collected Data from Non-Users
The court determined that Meta lacked a sufficient legal basis for processing the data of non-users. According to the ruling, individuals who had not registered with Facebook could not reasonably expect their contact information to be collected and stored by the platform simply because a friend or acquaintance used the Friends Finder feature. This practice, the court argued, violated the principles of data minimization and purpose limitation enshrined in the GDPR. The collected data included not only phone numbers and email addresses, but potentially other personal information as well, as noted by the court [1].
the court prohibited Meta from creating personalized advertising profiles without explicit user consent. This aspect of the ruling underscores the growing scrutiny of targeted advertising practices and the demand for clear and affirmative consent from individuals before their data can be used for such purposes. The decision is not yet legally binding, as Meta has the right to appeal, but it carries significant weight and sets a precedent for future data privacy cases.
Impact and Implications of the Ruling
The ruling by the Berlin Regional Court builds on growing concerns about the extent of data collection by large tech companies. The case was brought by the Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv), the German consumer federation, which argued that Friends Finder represented an unacceptable intrusion into the privacy of individuals. The vzbv successfully demonstrated that Meta’s data collection practices were not transparent and did not provide sufficient control to individuals over their personal information [1].
While the immediate impact on Facebook users remains to be seen, the ruling could force Meta to significantly alter its data collection practices, not only in Germany but potentially across Europe. The court’s decision highlights the increasing willingness of regulators to challenge the data-driven business models of tech giants and to prioritize the protection of individual privacy rights. The decision also reinforces the principle that simply being connected to a Facebook user does not imply consent to have one’s data processed by the platform [3].
The case also raises questions about the broader implications for other social media platforms that employ similar data collection techniques. If other courts follow the lead of the Berlin Regional Court, we could witness a wave of legal challenges targeting the data practices of other tech companies. The ruling serves as a stark reminder that data privacy is not merely a matter of individual preference, but a fundamental right that is legally protected [2].
What comes next will depend on Meta’s response to the ruling. An appeal is likely and the outcome of that appeal will determine the future of Friends Finder and potentially influence the broader landscape of data privacy regulation in Europe. The case underscores the ongoing tension between the desire for innovation and the need to protect individual rights in the digital age.
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