As Meta faces another fine, is the writing on the wall for its business model?
A European authority has once again fined Meta: this time by the Irish Data Protection Commission, to the tune of €390 million ($414 million) for violating privacy legislation by forcing Facebook and Instagram users to accept personalized advertising. Personalized advertising as such is not illegal, but it is essential to offer users a way to avoid it, which the company did not do.
People opening accounts on Facebook or Instagram, were not able to opt out of personalized advertising, as they can with other companies (although sometimes it is conveniently hidden in the privacy options of the account), which meant that, de facto, all users of these networks were being forced by the company to see personalized advertising. Under EU privacy law, you cannot simply present users with terms of service at the outset, and then not allow them to opt out of targeted advertising.
Other companies, such as Google or Twitter, make it clear in their respective options that the user will receive advertising, but allow the express waiver of the personalization of that advertising by simply ticking a box. For the European regulator, that is the key, and the principle that Meta companies Facebook — fined €210 million — and Instagram — fined €180 million — clearly infringed. Meta’s business model is based…
