Photo: M. CHANG/ZUMA PRESS/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
The American social media giant Meta, owner of Facebook, was fined this Wednesday (04.01.2023) with 390 million euros for violating the European regulation of data protection, announced the Irish regulator, which acts on behalf of the European Union.
The Irish data protection commission (DPC) stated in a statement that Meta, which is based in that European country, breached “its transparency obligations” and used an erroneous legal basis “for your personal data processing for advertising purposes” personalized.
Three decisions on data protection
This sanction is a consequence of the adoption of three binding decisions by the European data protection committee at the beginning of December. The first two concerned Facebook-related infringements. (for which the fine amounts to 210 million euros, about 222 million dollars) and Instagram (for 180 million euros, about 190 million dollars).
The third, relating to WhatsApp, was subsequently notified to the DPC and its application will be decided next week.
New million-dollar fines for Meta
The DPC already fined the Californian giant 405 million euros in September for failures in the processing of minors’ data, and 265 million in November for not sufficiently protecting the data of its users.
Privacy advocacy group Noyb, which filed the three complaints against Meta, accused the group of reinterpret consent “as a mere civil law contract”which does not allow for the opt-out of targeted advertising.
Noyb applauded Wednesday’s decision, considering that it will force Meta to implement a “yes/no consent option” for the use of its users’ personal data for personalized advertising.
Goal Deception
Meta was “disappointed” by the decision and expressed its intention to appeal “both the fund and the fines.”
“The debate on the legal basis for the processing of personal data has been open for some time and companies face a lack of regulatory certainty on this issue,” the group said.
“These decisions do not preclude targeted or personalized advertising. and “advertisers can continue to use our platforms to reach potential customers, grow their business and create new markets,” he added.
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