Facebook-owner Meta loses as EU court ruling may boost powers over data breaches

In response to the ruling a Meta spokesperson said: "We are evaluating the court's decision and will have more to say in due course."

Competition authorities overseeing firms such as Facebook-owner Meta are entitled to also assess privacy breaches, Europe's top court has ruled, potentially handing them more leeway in Big Tech probes.

The ruling followed a challenge by Meta after the German cartel office in 2019 ordered the social media giant to stop collecting users' data without their consent, calling the practice an abuse of market power.