“Meta exchanges one illegal practice for another illegal practice”

The Facebook group Meta will offer its users in Europe the opportunity to object to the collection of information about their online behavior for the purpose of personalizing ads.

Meta has not voluntarily changed the legal basis for data collection. The previous practice was declared illegal by the responsible Irish data protection authority early this year. The switch will go into effect on April 5, according to a blog post on Thursday.

Meta does not want to collect the data in the future on the basis of a contractual agreement with the users, but claims a “legitimate interest” in doing so. This change also gives you the opportunity to object to the collection of data. That’s not enough for critics (see below).

Personalized advertising is one of the main pillars of the business model of the two major meta-social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.

Well-known critic: ‘Too little’

For the European data protection organization Noyb, whose complaints made an important contribution to the decision of the Irish data protection activists, the change falls short. “Meta exchanges an illegal practice for another illegal practice,” criticized Noyb founder Max Schrems, who, as a young law student, battled the American tech company’s rampant data collection and is considered a “Facebook scare”.

The European non-profit organization states that instead of being able to “opt-out” of data collection, prior “opt-in” consent is required. Noyb will take immediate action against the new model. For strategic reasons, no details are yet to be announced.

390 million euros fine

In January, Irish privacy lawyers found a violation of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and imposed a fine of 390 million euros on Meta.

Meta emphasized on Thursday that the group still believes it has acted within the framework of the GDPR. The appeal against the decision will therefore continue. However, the amendment aims to meet the requirements of data protection officers within a certain period of time.

Since 2018, the GDPR has regulated the conditions under which personal data may be used. At that time, the Facebook group had stated in its terms of use that personalized advertising was part of the service, which did not require separate consent.

Sources

(dsc/sda/awp/dpa)