Meta, the owner of Facebook, violated users’ privacy by bypassing the mechanism for “offering” them ads. This is the conclusion of the Irish data protection authority.
The Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) on Wednesday imposed a €390 million fine on Meta, which owns Facebook, for violating user privacy. The DPC also banned companies from forcing users in the European Union to accept personalized ads based on their online activity.
Actions incompatible with the GDPR
The DPC initiated this case in May 2018 when the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force. In order to continue providing users with personalized advertising, Meta has changed the legal basis on which it uses user data. In fact, this does not give them grounds to refuse consent to the use of their data.
The DPA has determined that Meta does not have the right to use this form of contract with users and therefore it is illegal to feed targeted ads to them. Now the company has three months to adapt its activities to EU regulations.
Source: Wprost
