Oracle and Salesforce are facing class-action lawsuits filed in Dutch, English, and Welsh courts. The cases are brought by The Privacy Collective, a non-profit foundation, dedicated to claiming compensation for the wrongful use of personal data.
The Privacy Collective accuse Oracle and Salesforce of breaching GDPR rules
This organization has claimed that Oracle and Salesforce process and share personal data for online advertising. They use third party cookies “Bluekai” and “Krux” to track, monitor, and collect personal data of internet users. This data is shared in a process called real-time bidding. The group claims that these cookies are hosted on several popular sites like Amazon, Booking.com, Dropbox, Reddit, and Spotify.
The Privacy Collective has claimed that Oracle and Salesforce are breaching the GDPR rules by facilitating sales via harmful ads. They hold personal information that customers did not proactively share, and inconsistently secure personal data.
A biggest ever class-action lawsuit in the Dutch court, costing Oracle and Salesforce up to €10 billion
Dr. Rebecca Rumbul, the class action representative and a claimant on the suit in England and Wales said that the data collected from the internet is not adequately controlled. It can be used to facilitate highly targeted marketing. This could be vulnerable, exposing minors to unsuitable content, and fuel unhealthy habits such as online gaming or other addictions.
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The lawsuit has been filed in Amsterdam. A similar claim will be filed in the High Court of London later in August. The Dutch case is the biggest ever class-action lawsuit and could cost Oracle and Salesforce up to €10 billion.
Litigation filed in bad faith says Oracle’s EVP and general counsel Dorian Daley
Daley has slammed this lawsuit and called it meritless action which is based on a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts. He said that they have informed The Privacy Collective that the company has no direct role in the real-time bidding process. It also has a minimal footprint in the EU and has a comprehensive GDPR program.
He further said that despite explaining to the non-profit organization, they have moved ahead with this shake-down. Oracle will fight this and defend itself against these baseless claims.
Salesforce spokesperson says allegations have no merit
The spokesperson said that they disagree with the allegations and intend to demonstrate that they are without merit. She stated that the privacy and security of their corporate customers’ data are extremely important for them. They have provided their corporate customers with tools to comply with their obligations under applicable privacy laws which include the EU GDPR.
The spokesperson further said that Salesforce has a comprehensive privacy program to help customers preserve the privacy rights of their customers.