It’s not about the money, it’s a matter of principles!

Writing in late February, I anticipated the problems Meta would face after proposing users in Europe pay €12. 99 a month to prevent their personal information from being trafficked: consumer associations in eight countries have filed lawsuits, and 36 MEPs have written to the company urging it to shelve the idea. Now the EU Vice-President for competition, Denmark’s Margrethe Vestager, has called on the company come up with another business model compatible with EU citizens’ right to privacy.

Meta is not alone in pursuing the so-called “Pay or Okay” model, the practice of asking for payment in exchange for not being spied on: an increasing number of media and websites do not see privacy as a fundamental right, but instead a commodity. Austrian activist Max Schrems has calculated that an EU citizen would have to pay an average of about €1,500 euros a year to avoid being spied on, which leaves us bereft of one of the fundamental rights that underpin EU legislation.

Meta’s response? To haggle. It is now proposing €5.99. Marc Zuckerberg just doesn’t get it, so let me spell it out: privacy is not for sale, consent, according to the law, must be freely given. He seems to think that by setting a price as a deterrent and hoping that because less than 3% of users will pay it, his predatory business model is safe. Is that what he calls…