The most recent complaints against Meta’s treasure trove of user data come from consumer groups in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain, which they filed with their respective data protection authorities.
The consumer organizations claimed that Meta was not adhering to the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on fair processing, purpose limitation, and data minimization, and that the company’s data gathering and processing had no legal basis.
“Surveillance-based business models pose all kinds of problems under the GDPR and it’s time for data protection authorities to stop Meta’s unfair data processing and its infringing of people’s fundamental rights.”
Ursula Pachl, Deputy Director General of the European Consumer Organisation
She also took issue with Meta’s recent introduction of paid, ad-free Facebook and Instagram subscriptions in Europe, which the business claimed was done in order to abide by new EU tech regulations.
However, some argue that customers are essentially paying for their privacy in this way. The two services are still free to use for users who don’t mind advertisements.
“Meta’s offer to consumers is smoke and mirrors to cover up what is, at its core, the same old hoovering up of all kinds of sensitive information about people’s lives which it then monetises through its invasive advertising model.”
Ursula Pachl
According to Meta, the most recent legal rulings, guidelines, and regulatory changes shared by European regulators and courts in recent years are addressed by the subscription for no ads program.
