PERSONAL DATA PROCESSING BY SOCIAL MEDIA - NEW PERSPECTIVE IN META PLATFORMS CASE

Abstract

Digital era has brought enormous changes not only to IT sphere, but also to media, especially social media, who strive to make their economic growth by collecting data of its users. How or if these users willingly give their personal data is questionable and subject to strict requirements of the new data protection legislation, which made its way in the EU especially since the GDPR has entered into force. The consent for processing of personal data of private subjects is multilayered and depends upon various features such as type of data, its sensitivity, but also upon the mode of giving such a consent. Whether direct or indirect, consent must contain certain prerequisites, so that the processing of that data would be considered as lawful. The more pronounced the value of personal data for a subject processing and using that data, the more thorough the legal requirements should be, especially when it comes to new forms of predictable behaviour, used for behavioural advertising, for example. The new judgment in the case of Meta Platforms2 gives a new light to data protection law, especially in social media sphere, widening its concept to competition law, dominant position of social media networks and antitrust policies.