Consumer associations from eight European countries filed a complaint on Thursday, February 29, with the personal data protection authorities against the paid subscription system set up by Meta on Facebook and Instagram, announced the European Consumer Union Bureau ( BEUC).
2 mins
Since November, Meta offers European users of Facebook and Instagram to choose between continuing to use these services for free by agreeing to provide their personal data for targeted advertising purposes, or paying a subscription of 9.99 euros per month to no longer see advertisements. This formula was presented by the American giant as a way of complying with European rules on the processing of personal data, which have already earned it several convictions and fines.
But Meta is once again accused of violating the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), requiring the collection of data to be minimized to what is strictly necessary and to act with complete transparency. “ This kind of surveillance-based business model poses all sorts of problems with GDPR. It is time for data protection authorities to put an end to Meta’s abusive processing of data and violation of fundamental rights » of users, estimates Ursula Pachl, deputy director general of the European Consumers’ Unions Bureau (BEUC).
“ A smoke screen »
For these organizations, including UFC-Que Choisir in France, this system of paying to avoid being targeted by advertising is “ a smokescreen intended to divert the consumer’s attention from the illicit processing of their personal data “.
Complaints from associations are filed in a coordinated manner with the data protection authorities in France, Slovenia, Spain, Slovakia, Denmark, Norway, Greece and the Czech Republic. The decision will be centralized, and should in principle fall to the Irish data protection authority since it is in this country that Meta’s European headquarters is established.
At the same time, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which brings together the competent national authorities, must issue an opinion by the end of March on this type of formula.
(With AFP)
Today’s economyIn the United States, “tech” giants are raking in super profits and laying off people