Privacy and data security

In modern society, smartphones, computers, vehicles loaded with technology, fitness devices, and apps are a part of our everyday life. The companies that engineer these technologies process our data, including our messages and information about our location and other activities. That information is valuable. Corporations use it in many ways to secure their power in the marketplace. Personal data can be used for political purposes, to manipulate our choices, and to attract advertisers. Big Tech companies like Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram, among others) intrude upon our private affairs and violate our privacy on a large scale by deliberately misusing our personal data.

Dutch and European laws and regulations aim to protect the fundamental right to privacy. However, it is virtually impossible for consumers to take on Big Tech companies like Meta on their own. Regulators, too, do not always have the capacity or resources to effectively stand up to systematic violations.

Data Privacy Stichting

Meta systematically and deliberately violates the law. With the unlawfully obtained personal data of users of the Facebook and Instagram services, it earns billions of euros each year. Meta’s business model is based on unlawful exploitative practices that violate the (privacy) rights of consumers. Thus, the enormous profits come at the expense of consumer privacy.

Data Privacy Stichting is a Dutch non-profit foundation established with the goal to protect the privacy rights of Dutch consumers. The Foundation has made it its mission to put a stop to the systematic and extensive violations of privacy by Meta. In addition, the Foundation aims to obtain financial compensation for Facebook and Instagram users in the Netherlands who have been prejudiced by Meta’s violations of privacy and consumer rights.

The Amsterdam court already ruled in favour of the Foundation in its judgment of March 15, 2023: Meta (Ireland) has violated the privacy of Facebook users in the Netherlands for years. On March 1, 2024, the Foundation initiated a new lawsuit in which it holds Meta responsible for these violations and demands, among other things, compensation for affected consumers. The Foundation is supported in this by the Consumentenbond.

See for more information about the actions of the Foundation ‘Our Actions against Meta‘ and for more information about the Foundation’s purpose in its Articles of Association. Visit ‘Partners‘ for more information on the parties that support the Foundation in its mission. Visit ‘Aggrieved Parties‘ for more information about the group of victims that the Foundation advocates for.