This was ordered by the consumer protection authority in Lithuania, where Vinted is based. The company announced that it would appeal once morest the ruling.
Vinted was founded in Lithuania in 2008 and claims to have more than 100 million customers worldwide. Used clothing and shoes can be bought and sold on the platform.
One important market is France – according to the French consumer protection authority CNIL, customers there have been complaining since 2020 mainly regarding Vinted not deleting their data upon request. Consumer protection authorities in Poland, the Netherlands and Germany have joined the complaints.
“Hidden” banishments
CNIL also accused Vinted of “secretly” banning unwanted users – making them invisible to other users without them knowing it. The aim is to get them to stop using Vinted.
There were also accusations once morest Vinted regarding hidden costs when ordering. The EU Commission announced in June that, under pressure from Brussels, the platform would now display the total price including additional fees in the first booking step.
A statement from Vinted:
We would like to assure our members that the cases referred to by the Lithuanian Data Protection Authority (VDAI) are in no way related to the security of their accounts or represent a misuse or breach of their personal data.
We take privacy protection and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance very seriously. In fact, we have invested heavily to comply with the current rules and ensure the protection of our members’ data – we have worked with the VDAI throughout the entire process.
We have found no legal basis for this decision and believe that it sets a new precedent that goes beyond both the current wording of the law and industry practices. We fundamentally disapprove of the fine and will continue to appeal, as we have done throughout the process.