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Meta has scored a legal victory in the dispute over the use of personal data for AI training: In summary proceedings on Friday, the Cologne Higher Regional Court (OLG) rejected an application by the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Association (NRW) against the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Following a long-running legal dispute, the consumer advocates sent Meta a warning letter on April 30 demanding that it stop its AI usage plans for the two social networks. On May 12, the consumer advocates applied for an injunction in preliminary injunction proceedings at the Higher Regional Court of Cologne, whose 15th Civil Senate has now ruled against them (case no.: 15 UKl 2/25).
From May 27, Meta wants to use the data of all European Facebook and Instagram users of legal age to train its AI applications such as the large language model LLaMA. The US company reserves the right to use all future data as well as data from the past. Anyone who does not want this must expressly object to the use of personal data and images for these purposes.
The consumer advice center saw the need for haste, "because all data that has once flowed into the AI can only be retrieved with difficulty". The blanket reference to Meta's legitimate interest is not sufficient. In addition, particularly sensitive information could also be used for AI training purposes. Data subjects would have to actively consent to this.
In case of doubt in the interest of data processing
Following a "preliminary and summary examination", the Cologne judges found that Meta had not violated either the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This assessment is in line with the assessment by the Irish data protection authority responsible for the platform operator in the EU. With regard to the data published by users after mid-2024, the Hamburg Data Protection Commissioner Thomas Fuchs, who was heard on Thursday, also considers processing to be legally possible.
The OLG does not consider separate consent from the data subjects to be necessary. Meta is pursuing a legitimate purpose by using the data for AI training. This could not be achieved by equally effective, less intrusive means. There was no doubt that large amounts of data were required for the training, which could not be reliably anonymized completely. When weighing up the rights of users and the operator, the interests in data processing prevailed. Users had already been informed last year and could object. Furthermore, Meta did not appear at first glance to be unlawfully combining data from user profiles from various services.
The judgment is final. However, the parties can still assert their rights in separate main proceedings. Wolfgang Schuldzinski, CEO of the NRW consumer advice center, regretted the decision. The matter remains highly problematic. Facts are now being created, "although there are still considerable doubts about the legality of the use in this form". Fuchs from Hamburg had "initiated steps against the upcoming AI training". The data protection organization Noyb also demanded a cease-and-desist declaration. On Friday, Alexander Rossnagel, the Hessian data protection officer, appealed to users to make use of the opt-out option as soon as possible. His colleague from Brandenburg, Dagmar Hartge , believes that fan page operators in particular have a duty.
(mma)
