Meta has announced that users of Facebook and Instagram will in future be able to use the services for free and at the same time receive ads based on less personal data than before.
Today, users of Facebook and Instagram face the choice between accepting behavioral marketing or paying a monthly fee not to receive marketing (a so-called consent or pay model). Such models have been criticized because behavioral marketing, as the only alternative to payment, involves extensive monitoring of user behavior online.
A step towards more privacy protection
Meta has now announced a third alternative, where the ads will be less tailored to the individual user. According to the information, the marketing will thus be based on less information about the users (including age, location and gender). In addition, there will be contextual marketing, where the advertisements are adapted to the content of what users see on Facebook or Instagram at a given time.
Efforts from the European supervisory authorities
The European supervisory authorities are focused on ensuring that users of large online platforms must have a real choice when they are asked for consent to the processing of their personal data.
Thus, in an April 2024 opinion, the European Data Protection Board has expressed concern about such platforms’ use of consent or pay models and called for a third free alternative to be offered that protects users’ privacy to a greater extent.
Cooperation across the EU
It is the Irish Data Protection Authority that has the main responsibility for supervising Meta, but the Data Protection Authority will – in cooperation with the other European supervisory authorities – take a closer look at Meta’s announced changes.