Meta Accused of “Sucking Up” EU Data for AI Training – €200 Billion Lawsuit Could Be Next!
UNTED STATES, 14TH MAY 2025 – Digital rights group noyb has issued a formal cease and desist letter to Meta over plans to use personal data from EU-based Facebook and Instagram users to train its AI models starting 27 May 2025.
This could spark legal actions across the whole of Europe, including a potential class action, with damages estimated in the several hundreds of billions.
Since Meta is claiming a “legitimate interest” in processing user data for developing AI, there has been no opting out for user consent.
This is sidestepping the clear, informed user approval stipulated under Article 6(1) of the GDPR. According to noyb, this is an infringement of European law, and the attempt by Meta to default participation upon users unless they opt out is unlawful per se.
Max Schrems, chair of noyb, said,
“The European Court of Justice has already held that Meta cannot claim a ‘legitimate interest’ in targeting users with advertising. How should it have a ‘legitimate interest’ to suck up all data for AI training? While the ‘legitimate interest’ assessment is always a multi-factor test, all factors seem to point in the wrong direction for Meta. Meta simply says that it’s interest in making money is more important than the rights of its users.”
On the flip side, this characteristic of Meta’s decision opens the door for it to be an even greater financial threat: Under the EU Collective Redress Directive, Qualified Entities, like noyb, could mount an injunction and class action on behalf of millions of users. If Meta gets found liable, the non-material damage could easily be claimed as €500 per user for nearly 400 million EU users, opening to an eye-watering €200 billion.
Even worse, if Meta is found to have actually processed EU data into AI models, the courts might have to order an injunction for the deletion of entire AI systems, including open models like LLaMA, which Meta has no way of cleaning retroactively.
Some EU consumer groups, such as VZ NRW in Germany, are engaging in the legal fight already, but the DPAs have been said to be rather passive so far, almost leaving NGOs to pick up the slack.
“This fight is essentially about whether to ask people for consent or simply take their data without it. Meta starts a huge fight just to have an opt-out system instead of an opt-in system. Instead, they rely on an alleged ‘legitimate interest’ to just take the data and run with it. This is neither legal nor necessary. Meta’s absurd claims that stealing everyone’s personal data is necessary for AI training is laughable. Other AI providers do not use social network data, and generate even better models than Meta,” Max Schrems added.
The battle over whether consent or corporate interest should govern data use is heating up – one that could define the future of AI regulation in Europe.
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