Meta's Pay-or-Consent Policy Breaches EU Privacy Law, Consumer Groups Say
Meta's latest pay-or-consent policy in the EU may be breaching consumer and data protection law as well as the Digital Markets Act, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said Thursday. It contacted the relevant EU enforcement authorities about its concerns.
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Meta rolled out a second version of the policy at the end of 2024, after the earlier version "caused an uproar from consumer and other civil society groups" and triggered investigations by European authorities, BEUC said. This new version fails to address fundamental problems initially identified by consumer groups.
European consumers shouldn't be "fooled by the cosmetic changes" Meta made to its year-old policy, said BEUC Director General Agustin Reyna. The tech giant has failed to address that fundamental issue that Facebook and Instagram users aren't being given a fair choice, and is "making a weak bid to argue it is complying with EU law while still pushing users towards its behavioral ads system."