Amsterdam Court of Appeal Confirms Standing of Collective Damages Class Action Filed by Scott+Scott and other Law Firms on Behalf of Three Interest Organizations
AMSTERDAM — The Amsterdam Court of Appeal this week handed down a landmark decision in a collective action first filed against TikTok in 2021 by Scott+Scott on behalf of Stichting Take Back Your Privacy with support of the Dutch Consumentenbond (Dutch Consumer Association). The case was brought under the Act on the Settlement of Mass Damages Claims in Collective Actions (WAMCA) on behalf of three interest groups and alleges that the social media company violates children’s privacy and consumer rights.
This ruling is a significant step forward in bringing data privacy and GDPR-related cases under the WAMCA mechanism created in 2020.
“This is a very important ruling for Stichting Take Back Your Privacy and the Dutch children. TikTok continues to infringe on children’s privacy, and we look forward to pursuing this collective action on behalf of our client. We urgently need to protect children across the Netherlands,” said Scott+Scott Partner Carlijn van Rest.
With this decision, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal also set aside a previous judgment of the District Court in which it determined that only material damages could be awardable in collective proceedings. The Court of Appeal ruled that the individual differences between the users of the TikTok platform , does in itself not lead to the conclusion that the claims for non-material damages cannot be assessed in a collective action.
The Court of Appeal will soon hold a hearing to discuss the next phase of the case.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf several interest organisations with two other Dutch law firms:
Counsel to Take Back Your Privacy Foundation
Scott + Scott
Carlijn van Rest in Amsterdam
Counsel to The Foundation for Market Information Research (SOMI)
SOLV
Micha Schimmel in Amsterdam
Counsel to The Mass Damage and Consumer Foundation
Bureau Brandeis
Christiaan Alberdingk Thijm in Amsterdam