Syed Imran Haider 
Meta finally paid €390m for violating European Union data rules. According to Data Protection Commission, Ireland, the way the technology company took permission to use its users’ private data for advertisements on its social media platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, was illegal. Meta will have three months to modify how it gets and uses data to target advertisements.
Meta is disappointed over the situation and plans to appeal against the decision. It highlights that the decision does not avert personalized advertisements on its social media platforms. The regulator emphasizes Instagram and Facebook cannot force consumers to accept how they will use their private data or quit the platform.
Meta Violated EU Data Rules
Meta has its European headquarters for Facebook and Instagram in Ireland. The DPC took the lead to ensure these platforms abide by European Union data law. On the other hand, privacy campaigners welcomed the decision, declaring it a momentous victory.
They believe that the decision will make Meta give its users a genuine choice over how they want the platform to use their private data to target online ads. The decision indicates Meta will potentially need to modify its way of doing business.
According to revenue statistics for 2021, the firm’s most revenue (over $118 billion) comes from online advertising. The penalty of €390 imposed on Facebook for breaching EU data law is the second most significant penalty that PDC‘s watchdog has imposed on the company in recent months.
Last year in November, the regulator fined Meta €265 million for a data breach that witnessed the firm publishing the private details of millions of Facebook users online.
The Irish Times said Meta had to set 2 billion Euro to pay potential EU fines in the following year.
New Law and New Complaints
The Irish Data Protection Commission found a spark in its investigation process, followed by complaints that Max Schrems, a privacy campaigner, in the name of two users in Belgium and Austria in 2018.
It is worth mentioning these complaints became manifest as the General Data Protection Regulation and European Union’s new data privacy rules came into operation. Instagram and Facebook asked their users to choose “I accept” to show that they agree to the company’s updated terms of service for how it can use their private data in advertisements to abide by GDPR.
Users could not access their accounts on Instagram or Facebook if they did not accept these forced consents by the social media platforms. The complaints argued that this practice meant that Meta would force users to consent to their private data usage in targeted advertisements online. And it is where the firm violated the GDPR.
According to Meta’s spokespersons, Instagram and Facebook believe in working as inherently personalized platforms, and personalization is part of that. Targeted advertising is one of the essential aspects of how these social media platforms do business.
Meta did not give users an ultimatum. There was no way Instagram and Facebook could move ahead without using users’ private data for ads. However, Data Protection Commission found that these platforms were forcing users to consent, and Meta was vague with users about how it used their data and why.
