Facebook faces legal setback in EU court decision on data privacy and ads

The European Court of Justice said competition watchdogs can consider whether companies like Facebook comply with the continent’s strict privacy rules, which are normally covered by national data privacy regulators (Jeff Chiu/AP/PA)

Facebook lost a legal challenge on Tuesday at the European Union’s top court over a groundbreaking German antitrust decision that limited the way the company uses data for advertising.

The European Court of Justice said competition watchdogs can consider whether companies such as Facebook comply with the continent’s strict privacy rules, which are normally enforced by national data privacy regulators.