Online platforms: No targeted advertising based on sensitive data
Advertising based on highly sensitive data? As part of an alliance of nine digital organizations, the GFF is filing a complaint against X in various EU countries.
The social media platform X enables personalized advertising based on highly sensitive data such as political views or sexual orientation. Advertisers can use keywords to target specific audiences and, for example, show their ads only to users who have never interacted with posts in the “LGBT” category or who like posts about the AfD. Since such business practices violate the Digital Services Act, the GFF, together with the organizations AI Forensics, Global Witness, European Digital Rights AISBL, Stichting Bits of Freedom, VoxPublic, Panoptykon Foundation, Centre for Democracy and Technology Europe und Entropy, has drafted a complaint and submitted it to the Federal Network Agency. At the same time, the coalition is filing the complaint in other EU member states.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ADVERTISING USING SENSITIVE DATA ON SOCIAL MEDIA
X and other social media platforms have access to large amounts of their users’ personal data. Information about political views and sexual orientation is particularly sensitive. In these areas, the risk of manipulation through fake news and discrimination is very high.
Especially before elections, targeted advertising can lead to X displaying tailored messages to its users. Those interested in a particular party may be shown different content depending on their political views. This contributes to further social polarization and a so-called chilling effect. As a result, people refrain from expressing their opinions online because they fear negative consequences. This can even lead to self-censorship.
Legal Framework for Advertising Using Sensitive Data
European law prohibits targeted advertising using sensitive data on online platforms. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies throughout the EU. It expressly prohibits the processing of data regarding ethnic origin, political opinions, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics without the explicit consent of the individuals concerned. The EU-wide Digital Services Act prohibits the placement of advertisements on online platforms that are based on profiling, i.e., targeted advertising based on that personal data. Citing this prohibition, GFF’s partner organizations are also filing complaints against targeted advertising on X in other EU countries.
What can the Federal Network Agency do about targeted advertising?
With this complaint, the GFF aims to stop targeted advertising based on particularly sensitive data. The Federal Network Agency is Germany’s national coordination point for digital services (DSC). The agency must now review the complaint and then forward it to the DSC where X has registered its establishment—which is the relevant authority in Ireland. In the event of a violation, the Irish DSC is required to take measures to remedy it.
Targeted Advertising on X
Our partner organization, AI Forensics, has analyzed advertising data from X covering the period from September 2023 to May 2025. The publicly available research shows that while X lists sensitive data categories, it allows advertisers to target audiences using keywords that circumvent these prohibited categories. Although X’s internal guidelines stipulate that political orientation may not form the basis for an advertisement, the keyword search function nevertheless allows advertisers to target the group with the characteristic “Political Affiliation – Christian Social Union.” There is evidence that advertisers are indeed using this feature. For example, the computer company Dell explicitly did not place its ads for users whom X associates with the keywords “Alternative for Germany” or “#lesbian.”
Successful Complaint Against LinkedIn
In 2024, the GFF filed a complaint against LinkedIn because the platform had used users’ sensitive data for advertising purposes, including information on sexual orientation. The complaint by the GFF and other partner organizations led LinkedIn to stop offering this option to advertisers.
