Facebook and Instagram ask EU users for permission to show ads tailored to them. The downside to this for the company is that it calls into question the platforms’ core monetization strategy, he writes Watchman.
Meta, the social network’s parent company, announced the change after a series of regulatory rulings struck down the company’s legal justification that advertisers were collecting social data to deliver more personalized ads.
Meta argued that
has an interest in processing Users’ data in this way,
But it has now admitted that under EU data protection laws it must seek consent instead.
The company said in a blog post,
that in the case of people living in the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland, we are changing the legal basis for processing certain data used for behavioral advertising from “legitimate interest” to “contribution”.
Meta’s ad-driven business model has already come under pressure after Apple introduced a privacy change that requires app developers to ask users for permission to track their online activity in order to serve them personalized ads.
Ads made up 97 per cent of Meta’s $117bn (£92bn) revenue last year.
“This move marks an important change in Meta’s business model,” said Jonny Ryan, senior fellow at the Irish Civil Rights Council, which campaigns for tougher protections for internet users’ data. He said he believed users did not consent to their data being used for targeted advertising.
Ryan put it like
You can say no to some toxic elements of the Meta business and still enjoy the service.
Meta’s official announcement on the users’ consent request followed decisions by the Irish Data Protection Commission, Meta’s EU-wide regulator, as well as the EU Court and the Norwegian Data Protection Authority.
