EU privacy experts opinion against surveillance advertising on Instagram, Facebook and co.: Pirates call on Meta to give in

In an opinion published yesterday, the EU Data Protection Board stated that “in most cases, it will not be possible for large online platforms to meet the requirements for valid consent if they only give users the choice of either consenting to the processing of personal data for behavioural advertising or paying a fee.” Pirate Party MEP Patrick Breyer sees this as the de facto end to Meta’s “pay or okay” plan, against which consumer organisations are already taking legal action. At Breyer’s initiative, 46 MEPs had previously condemned this forced payment scheme, which gives users the choice only between being monitored and a paid subscription.

“Meta’s privacy fee undermines the protection of privacy, presents users with a false choice and economically coerces them into consenting to extensive surveillance and exploitation of their online activities. Zuckerberg will not get away with forcing users to consent to this exploitation by making privacy unaffordable. The reason why Meta insists on an unlawful consent model is its business model based on ubiquitous tracking. Following the recommendation of the EU data protection authorities, Meta now needs to develop an alternative to its surveillance-capitalist business model, for example free access funded with contextualised and surveillance-free advertising. Meta needs to abandon its ‘pay or okay’ scheme and respect our fundamental right to use the internet anonymously!”