The group is regularly accused of breaking EU rules. 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.
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 “.
Since November, Meta has offered European users of Facebook and Instagram the choice between continuing to use these services for free by agreeing to provide their personal data for targeted advertising purposes, or paying a subscription 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). “This kind of surveillance-based business model poses all kinds of problems with GDPR. It is time for data protection authorities to put an end to Meta’s abusive data processing and violation of fundamental rights.” of users, estimates Ursula Pachl, deputy director general of the European Consumers’ Union (BEUC).
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.
“Constrain consumers”
Last November, BEUC and 19 of its members filed complaints against this Meta policy with the network of national consumer protection authorities (CPC), denouncing “abusive commercial practices”, this time with regard to consumer rights. EU consumption. The Austrian privacy organization NOYB, at the origin of several proceedings against the tech giants, had for its part contacted the data protection authority of its country, accusing Meta of circumventing the GDPR.
Likewise, “the analysis of BEUC and its members shows that the way in which Meta requests consent is not in compliance” with this regulation, the organization indicates in a report. The GDPR requires that consent be “freely given”, while Meta “attempts to force consumers to accept the processing of their personal data”, she denounces.
Since November, each Instagram or Facebook account user refusing the collection of this data must pay 9.99 euros per month if they pay via computer, or 12.99 euros if they use smartphone applications. Consumer organizations also accuse Meta of violating EU rules requiring it to minimize data collection to what is strictly necessary and to act with complete transparency. “Meta seems to think that in order to make money from advertising, it is justified to collect all imaginable data on the activities, location, personality, behavior, attitudes and emotions of consumers,” denounces BEUC in his report.
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.