Noyb win: German DPA finds microtargeting by major political parties illegal

After complaints filed by privacy group noyb over Germany’s 2021 federal election, Berlin’s data protection authority has ruled that the SPD, Greens, Left Party and CDU unlawfully used political microtargeting. The parties targeted online advertisements using users’ inferred political interests, drawing on detailed profiles built by social media platforms from people’s habits, interactions and other data. The authority found no valid legal basis, such as consent, for this processing of sensitive personal information. The practice can expose voters to tailored political persuasion and, noyb argues, threatens democratic elections by enabling manipulation.

The complaint against the AfD remains open after the party challenged the authority’s power to investigate. An administrative court ruled that the party must provide the requested information, but the authority has yet to decide the case. The complaints followed a 2021 TV investigation that found Bundestag parties were microtargeting Facebook ads; viewers’ browser-extension data helped noyb identify specific GDPR violations. noyb welcomed the decisions but criticized the more-than-three-year delay, noting that another federal election took place in the meantime. The authority reprimanded the four parties, but did not directly ban the practice. noyb hopes the rulings will deter future use and lead to faster enforcement if parties continue.