Meta loses appeal on how it harvests data in Germany

First few paragraphs as summary, unedited:

Meta’s ability to harvest data about users in order to sell personalized ads was thrown into question on Tuesday after the European Union’s highest court upheld a decision by German antitrust regulators that the company had abused its dominance in social media.

The ruling in the closely watched case by the European Court of Justice cleared the way for Germany’s top antitrust enforcer, the Bundeskartellamt, to block Meta from combining data collected about users across its different platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as from outside websites and apps, unless it gets explicit permission from users.

The decision undercuts Meta’s business model, which relies on selling targeted advertising based on the massive amounts of data it gathers about its users as they use Meta services and browse the wider internet.

Mirror in case of paywall, thanks @cfabbro: https://archive.is/azs1P

Techcrunch analysis before the verdict: CJEU ruling on Meta referral could close the chapter on surveillance capitalism

Other news from same case: Competition authorities can identify data protection infringements, says EU court

ETA: It's a busy day in Europe in the data protection world, hence my posts. I promise this is the last one today.