Imo court dismisses $25m privacy claim against Meta
An Imo State High Court has dismissed a $25 million suit accusing Meta of unlawfully collecting and using personal data for behavioural advertising. Justice L.C. Alinnor ruled that the claimant did not sufficiently prove a privacy violation, and said a previously issued data-protection order against Meta had been set aside.
The Imo State High Court in Iho has dismissed a $25 million fundamental-rights suit brought against Meta Platforms Inc. over alleged privacy and data-protection violations. Justice L.C.
Alinnor struck out the case on 21 July, according to a certified copy of the judgment shared with Premium Times. The claimant, Chika Chukwuemeka, had alleged that Meta collected, processed and profiled her personal data for behavioural advertising without her consent. She argued that the alleged conduct breached her constitutional right to privacy and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.
She also claimed that Meta lacked a lawful basis for processing her data, failed to meet transparency requirements, transferred data outside Nigeria and did not conduct an adequate data-protection impact assessment. Chukwuemeka sought orders stopping the alleged processing and requiring Meta to comply with the Data Protection Act. Her claim included $10 million in general damages, $15 million in exemplary damages and interest.
The judge held that she had not provided enough evidence to establish an infringement of her fundamental rights or show how the alleged infringement had been carried out. He also rejected reliance on a final order by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, which Chukwuemeka said had found violations affecting more than 60 million Nigerian data subjects and imposed a $32.8 million fine on Meta. That order had been set aside after Meta challenged it before the Federal High Court in Abuja and the parties settled.
Justice Alinnor said the order could therefore no longer support Chukwuemeka’s case. The court rejected several preliminary objections by Meta, including challenges concerning service and territorial jurisdiction. It held that the suit could be served through the method used and that an online dispute could be heard in Imo because the complained-of activities were accessed there.
Meta had argued that users accepted terms explaining personalised advertising and that consent was not the only lawful basis for processing data. The court ultimately dismissed the substantive claim and made no order as to costs.
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