DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

1 July 2025
Newsletter Donate Advertise
  • News
  • Life in the Netherlands
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Search
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • Art and culture
  • Sport
  • Europe
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Education
  • News
    • Home
    • Economy
    • Politics
    • Art and culture
    • Sport
    • Europe
    • Society
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Education
  • Life in the Netherlands
    • Latest
    • Opinion
    • Books
    • Travel
    • 10 Questions
    • Learning Dutch
    • Inburgering with DN
    • Food & Drink
    • Ask us anything
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
    • Team
    • Donate
    • Advertise
    • Writing for Dutch News
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

30,000 Facebook users join mass compensation claim for breach of privacy

July 7, 2020
Photo: Depositphotos.com
Photo: Depositphotos.com

Around 30,000 people have joined a mass claim against Facebook for allegedly breaching Dutch privacy law.

Consumer organisation Consumentenbond and data privacy protection association DPS say the social media giant has been collecting users’ private data without their consent for years and making it available to third parties.

Though Facebook claims to be a free service, it effectively makes users ‘pay’ with their data, such as their gender, age and place of residence, as well as information they share with friends, the organisations said.

‘Facebook has been collecting user data on a large scale. Users did not know that this information, which they considered private, was made available to advertisers and app makers. Facebook’s privacy policy regarding this is unclear, inconsistent and unnecessarily complicated,’ Consumentenbond director Sandra Molenaar said.

Some 30,000 claimants had joined the organisations by midday on Tuesday following a public appeal by the Consumentenbond. ‘The speed and number of the reactions are  unprecedented,’ spokesperson Gerard Spierenburg told broadcaster NOS. There are approximately 10 million Facebook users in the Netherlands.

Facebook said in a statement to news website NU. nl that it takes privacy issues ‘very seriously’ and ‘every effort has been made to comply with privacy regulations, among which the clarification of our policy and easy accessibility of our privacy settings.’

Share this article
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Copy URL
Economy
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation
Latest
Show more
Temperatures set to top 35° in the south, storms on Wednesday
Postal delivery time to be stretched from 24 to 48 hours
Satnav maker TomTom to cut 300 jobs and "fully embrace" AI
Warning over drug driving after 30% rise in positive tests
From sweets to lego: 16 great things to do this summer
NewsHomeEconomyPoliticsArt and cultureSportEuropeSocietyEnvironmentHealthHousingEducation
Life in the NetherlandsLatestOpinionBooksTravel10 QuestionsLearning DutchInburgering with DNFood & DrinkAsk us anything
About usTeamDonateAdvertiseWriting for Dutch NewsContact usPrivacyNewsletter
© 2025 DutchNews | Cookie settings

Help us to keep providing you information about coronavirus in the Netherlands.

Many thanks to everyone who has donated to DutchNews.nl in recent days!

We could not provide this service without you. If you have not yet made a contribution, you can do so here.

The DutchNews.nl team

Donate now

Dutchnews Survey

Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey.

Take part now