Regulatory Watch  /  European Union  /  Court ruling
Moderate impactCourt rulingDecided

CJEU ruling C‑446/21 limits use of personal data for online advertising and repurposing publicly available data

The European Court of Justice issued ruling C‑446/21, fully backing a lawsuit against Meta's Facebook service. The court massively limits the use of personal data for online advertising and restricts the reuse of publicly available personal data to the originally intended purposes for publication.

Why it matters: The decision sharply restricts how companies can use personal data for advertising and AI training under the GDPR.

Summary generated from the sources below. Check the primary source before relying on it; this is not legal advice.

Sources
Annual Report 2024 out now!
noyb · primary source · Jul 31, 2025
noyb's Pay or Okay report: how companies make you pay for privacy
noyb · Jul 24, 2025
Annual Report 2024 out now!
noyb · Jul 31, 2025
Details
JurisdictionEuropean Union
RegulatorEDPB
CourtCourt of Justice of the European Union
LawGeneral Data Protection Regulation
CaseC-446/21
StatusDecided
PublishedJuly 31, 2025
Effectivenot stated
OrganisationsMeta, noyb, Facebook
Topicsprivacy, targeted advertising, data minimization, purpose limitation, ai governance, consent, profiling, automated decision making
Datapersonal