After Meta did not challenge the choice of forum to hear the case, the certification hearing will take place at the end of January, 2023.
The case was lodged in January with the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which is set to decide if the claim should be certified as a collective action.
The law firm acting for the litigant said in a statement that Facebook/ Meta decided not to challenge the tribunal's jurisdiction over them. This was an important step for the claim, as it allows the claim to progress more quickly. The case is progressing and we have a certification hearing at the end of the year.
The category of class action style suits that seek collective damages for privacy breeches has faced an uphill battle in the UK, with a hammer blow being dealt to the category last November when a Supreme Court appeal against long-running litigation related to aSafari privacy settings workaround was rejected by the court.
The proposed class representative argues that Facebook has imposed unfair terms, prices and/or other trading conditions on UK Facebook users, including by requiring users to hand over their personal data Competition litigation is underpinned by loss of privacy.
A legal notice about the claim has been published and it provides information for anyone in the proposed class who used Facebook at least once.
There is information in the notice for a person with an interest in the claim who would like to object to the claim itself.
The dates for the certification hearing have been provided by Dr. Lovdahl Gormsen. Between January and February of next year, this will be heard at the competition appeal tribunal. It will determine if the claim can go ahead as a collective action and if I should be authorized as a proposed class representative.
Engagement with the Proposed Class is important to me. If you are not a member of the Proposed Class, you can apply to the Tribunal for permission to make oral and/or written submissions at the certification hearing. She said that the application must be received by the tribunal by 4pm on October 10, 2022.
If you want to object to the Collective Proceedings Order or my authorisation as the Proposed Class Representative by the same deadline, you need to write to the Tribunal.
Detailed information about the litigation can be found at Facebookclaim.co.uk.
The person contacted Meta.
An interplay of competition law and privacy concerns is causing a problem for Meta in Germany, where the competition regulator has spent years pressing an "exploitative abuse" case against the tech giant, related to its combining of user data across different services to create so called user "super profiles"
The procedure could allow Germany to impose a structural separation of Meta's business empire without having to break it up. Last year, legal questions pertaining to the German FCO's case were referred to Europe's top court. That is another case to keep an eye on.
UK class action lodged against Meta seeks $3.1B for breach of competition law
All Rights Reserved © 2024
