Permanent 'ban' on profiling for Meta
On Oct. 27, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) imposed a permanent ban on Meta, the parent company behind among others Facebook and Instagram, on targeted advertising in the EEA. At least, the company may no longer justify their profiling activities for advertising purposes under the legal bases of "contract" and "legitimate interest."
The European regulators require Meta to stop the personalized ads to users because Meta relies on its users' personal data to do so.
Users of Facebook and Instagram are massively handing over their personal data to Meta (often without realizing it). Meta's revenue model is based on this, because Meta in turn sells that personal data on to advertisers so they can send more targeted ads.
Meta's response to this ban is the so-called "pay or OK model." Meta introduces a subscription for its users, where in exchange for a monthly fee, users' data is no longer collected and they are no longer subjected to targeted ads.
This was immediately met with a great deal of criticism....
Thus, it questions how "free" this permission can be, for users who have been active on Meta for years, and where until recently it was always pretended that the platform would remain free.
In addition, the amount that Meta charges for its monthly subscription formula stands out. Meta charges between 10 and 13 euros per month, which is almost double of most 'pay or ok' models.
More generally, the "buying off fundamental rights" is strongly criticized. For example, the Austrian privacy foundation NOYB argues that this would mean that only the rich can enjoy privacy rights.
To be continued....
Also read the article on the EDPB's website.