DW reports that Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH), which is Germany’s highest civil court, has ruled that victims of a Facebook data breach could be entitled to compensation:
The court in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe, Germany’s highest court for civil cases, said that the basic loss of control over data online was grounds for damages — without plaintiffs having to prove any specific financial losses, misuse of the data or even that they have been particularly concerned.
The BGH declared its ruling to be a guideline decision, meaning it can serve as a precedent for thousands of cases currently going through German courts.
This is a pretty stunning ruling, and unsurprisingly, Meta is fighting it.
A spokeswoman claimed the BGH’s ruling was “inconsistent with the recent case law of the European Court of Justice,” the European Union’s highest court.
“Similar claims have already been dismissed 6,000 times by German courts, with a large number of judges ruling that no claims for liability or damages exist,” she said. “Facebook’s systems were not hacked in this incident and there was no data breach.”
Read more at DW.
