The troubles don't end for Meta. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp was sanctioned with two fines, for a total of 390 million euro, "for the violation of the rules on the processing of personal data for the purpose of behavioral advertising". This was announced by Irish Privacy Commissioner, specifying that it has completed two investigations against Meta Platforms Ireland Limited and that it has established a fine of 210 million for Facebook and one of 180 million for Instragram. The commission also asked Meta to bring its practices into line with EU rules within 3 months even though it did not give indications on how it should do so. The investigation started from two complaints, presented in Austria and Belgium, submitted on 25 May 2018, the date of entry into force of the EU regulation on the processing of personal data.
In detail, the Irish Data Privacy Board, which serves as the main regulator of Meta in the European Union as the company's European headquarters is located in Dublin, said that the European Union authorities have determined that the insertion of legal consent within the terms of service essentially forces users to accept personalized advertisements, violating the European law known as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which entered into force just four years ago.
Destination sanctioned by Brussels: the accusations
The case centers on how Meta receives legal permission from users to collect their data for the personalized advertising. The company includes language in its terms of service, the very long statement that users must agree before accessing services like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, which effectively means that users must allow their data to be used for personalized ads or stop using Meta's social media services.
There is no federal privacy law in the US
The problem, however, is how to comply with EU legislation. There is no federal privacy law in the United States and only some states, such as the California, have taken steps to create rules similar to those of the European Union. However, any changes Meta makes following the ruling could have repercussions for US users. So much so that many tech companies apply EU rules globally, because they are easier to implement than restrict.
More trouble for Meta
The European Union's ruling is the latest commercial obstacle that Meta is facing, already grappling with a fort decline in revenues ads due to a change Apple made in 2021, which gave iPhone users the ability to choose whether advertisers can track them. Consumer surveys indicate that a clear majority of users have blocked tracking
Additionally, the fine comes as the company is trying to diversify its business from social media into the virtual reality world known as metaverse. The company's stock price has plunged more than 60% over the past year, and Meta had to dismiss thousand of employees.
Meta will appeal
Meta said he will appeal the decision, setting up what could be a protracted one legal battle which will test the power of the GDPR and how aggressively regulators are using the law to force companies to change their business practices.
“We strongly believe that our approach complies with the GDPR and are therefore disappointed by these decisions,” Facebook said in a statement.
