The war for personal data continues between web giants and Europe. Meta is once again in the crosshairs of European regulators. This summer, Norway imposed a ban on all “behavioral advertising” on the group. The regulator ruled that Meta did not fulfill its obligations to obtain explicit consent from users in the collection of their personal data, thus contravening the law.
A quick ban
The EU supervisory body has therefore asked the lead authority, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), to take appropriate action within two weeks. The ban is expected to come into force a week after Meta is informed of the final measures.
The ban for the States of the European Union
The ban now extends to EU states as well as Iceland and Liechtenstein, which, along with Norway, are part of the EEA. These are targeted advertisements that Meta has previously placed on the legal basis of contracts with users.
Meta wants to charge those who don’t want ads
In the future, the operator wants to adopt member consent as a new legal basis. Meta also wants to start charging fees if personalized advertising is not desired. The European regulator has taken note of this proposal: the DPC is currently examining the initiative in collaboration with other data protection authorities.
Meta’s proposal does not seem to please regulators
“Enough is enough,” said Tobias Judin, head of the international department at Danish data protection authority Datatilsynet. After more than five years of violations of the privacy of approximately 250 million active European users, EDSA is now defending itself against Meta’s disregard of the law. Norwegian and Danish data protection authorities have also expressed doubts about the legality of the proposed consent solution.
Because that means everyone who doesn’t accept behavioral marketing would have to pay. For years, Meta has relied on the trick of presenting its own data mining as a service for relevant users. In the end, the company did not succeed because advertising on Facebook and Instagram is also not considered as added value for recipients.
Meta wants to charge users who don’t want ads
In a blog post, Meta reveals an ad-free paid subscription starting at €9.99 per month for Instagram and Facebook users residing in the European Union, the EEA (European Economic Area) and Switzerland. This announcement is not a surprise, since the first rumors on this subject were relayed last September by the New York Times.
Meta would like to reassure its users: free access to Facebook and Instagram will always be possible. This is therefore not a forced move to paid subscription but rather a new choice for users: “In November, we will offer people who use Facebook or Instagram and reside in these regions the choice to continue to use these personalized services for free with advertisements, or to subscribe to no longer see advertisements. »
In the meantime, Youtube is flooding us with advertising
YouTube is a video distribution platform. This may seem obvious, but it’s the main reason why YouTube shows so many ads.
YouTube was launched on February 14, 2005. It was the first video streaming platform of its kind.
Over time, other platforms have copied YouTube and some have excelled. For example, Twitch offered live streaming before YouTube. However, YouTube is the largest platform of its kind with around 2 billion unique monthly users, or more than a quarter of the world’s population.
But the broadcast of advertisements has become unbearable. Youtube offers you the opportunity to no longer have to support them by paying for a Youtube Premium subscription.
So indeed, these advertisements are not targeted but they force you to limit your attendance. It is difficult to understand how Europeans allowed themselves to be drawn in by these very rich American groups.
