Consumer groups from eight EU countries filed a complaint against Meta on Thursday, accusing the owners of Facebook and Instagram of illegally processing user data and using its “payment or consent” system as a “smokescreen” for privacy violations. I accused him of being there.
Meta has earned large financial rewards by selling user data to advertisers, but its business model has put the US tech giant at odds with EU regulators over data privacy.
In November, Meta launched a “pay or consent” system that allows users to withhold their data from being used for ad targeting in exchange for a monthly fee. The model already faces two challenges from privacy and consumer advocates.
The European Consumer Organization (BEUC), which announced the latest measures, called the system “a smokescreen to cover up the real problem: the large-scale and illegal processing of users’ data that proceeds regardless of their choices.” .
Mehta dismissed “general and baseless accusations” about the use of the data. “We strongly dispute these,” the spokesperson said.
Eight consumer groups from the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Spain have filed complaints with local data protection authorities, the Brussels-based BEUC umbrella organization said in a statement.
The group claims Meta is still in violation of the European Union’s massive General Data Protection Regulation, which is at the root of the EU’s lawsuit against the online giant.
“The time has come for data protection authorities to stop Meta’s unfair data processing and violation of people’s fundamental rights,” said BEUC Deputy Director-General Ursula Pakul.
BEUC said in its report that Meta violates principles of EU data law that require transparency and limit the amount and use of user data processed.
“Meta appears to believe that companies are justified in collecting all kinds of data about consumers’ activities, locations, personalities, behaviors, attitudes, and emotions in order to monetize advertising.” The book says:
“In reality, the wholesale exploitation of the private lives of hundreds of millions of European consumers for commercial gain does not respect various fundamental principles of the GDPR.”
～Flood of complaints～
The Silicon Valley company allows Instagram and Facebook users in Europe to pay between 10 and 13 euros (about $11 to $14) a month to opt out of data sharing.
Under GDPR law, consent must be freely given, but BEUC argues that its model forces consumers to accept Meta’s processing of their personal data.
“The company has also failed to prove that the fees it charges consumers who do not consent are actually necessary, a requirement set by the EU Supreme Court.”
“In such a situation, consumers’ choices about how they want their data to be processed become meaningless and therefore less free,” the report said.
When Meta announced the paid subscription in October, it emphasized that it was in line with the wishes of regulators and courts.
The report said: “This complies with instructions issued by Europe’s highest court. In July, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recommended that We have approved a subscription model.”
~The decision of the monitoring body approaches~
These challenges are the latest in a cat-and-mouse game between the EU and Meta.
In December, the EU’s data watchdog EDPB told Meta that users’ personal data cannot be used for targeted advertising without their explicit consent.
EDPB will decide in the coming weeks whether a meta-like fee structure violates the bloc’s data privacy laws.
Thursday’s charges are the third indictment of Meta’s “pay or consent” scheme.
BEUC announced in November that it, along with 19 of its members, had lodged a complaint against the scheme jointly with a network of European consumer protection authorities.
Prior to that, another complaint was filed by the privacy group NOYB, which has won countless victories against Meta and others.
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