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Facebook users impacted by information breach eligible for compensation, German court states

A German court said on Monday that Facebook users whose data was illegally obtained in 2018 and 2019 were eligible for settlement.

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that the loss of control over one's information online was premises for damages without needing to prove specific financial losses.

Thousands of Facebook users in Germany are demanding settlement from parent company Meta for insufficient security of their information after unknown third parties were able to access user accounts by guessing phone numbers.

The claims, which originate from a data breach in 2021 of information gathered through the Facebook good friend search feature, had been dismissed in principle by a lower court in Perfume and will now need to be re-examined.

The complainant had demanded damages of 1,000 euros ($ 1,056),. but the BGH stated that around 100 euros would be appropriate with. no proof of financial loss.

According to the Karlsruhe-based court, the lower court must. determine whether Facebook's terms of use were transparent and. understandable, and whether users' grant using their. information was voluntary.

Meta formerly refused to pay settlement on the grounds. that those impacted had actually not been able to show any concrete. damages.

A Meta spokesperson said the BGH's judgment was inconsistent. with the current case law of the European Court of Justice, the. greatest court in Europe.

Similar claims have currently been dismissed 6,000 times by. German courts, with a large number of judges ruling that no. claims for liability or damages exist, the spokesperson stated. Facebook's systems were not hacked in this incident and there. was no data breach.

Approximately 6 million individuals in Germany were impacted by the. leak.

(source: Reuters)