banner Meta 2024

The Meta Smokescreen

Follow related Publications Contact us

The Meta Smokescreen

The Meta Smokescreen

Meta has rolled out changes to its service in the EU in November 2023 which require Facebook and Instagram users to, either consent to the processing of their data for advertising purposes by the company, or pay in order not to be shown advertisements.

However, for BEUC and eight of its members, regardless of the choice users make, the tech giant does not adhere to the principles of fair processing, data minimisation and purpose limitation of the GDPR. In addition, Meta does not have a valid legal basis to justify the massive collection of data it undertakes of Facebook and Instagram users when consumers consent, because the choice it imposes on its users can not lead to their freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous consent.

As a result, eight consumer groups from the BEUC network have filed complaints with their national data protection authorities against Meta.

The BEUC members participating in this action are dTest (Czech Republic), Forbrugerrådet Tænk (Denmark), EKPIZO (Greece), UFC-Que Choisir (France), Forbrukerrådet (Norway), Spoločnosť ochrany spotrebiteľov (S.O.S.) Poprad (Slovakia), Zveza Potrošnikov Slovenije – ZPS (Slovenia) and CECU (Spain). Consumentenbond (Netherlands) sent a letter to the Dutch data protection authority.

 

We want the relevant data protection authorities to take immediate and urgent action to stop Meta from collecting and processing people’s data that goes beyond the principles of the GDPR, bearing in mind the length of time Meta has been in breach of the law. We then expect Meta to change its business model so that it no longer tracks and collects people’s behavioural data in a way that breaches their fundamental rights every day.

PRESS RELEASE | Consumer groups launch complaints against Meta’s massive, illegal data processing behind its pay-or-consent smokescreen, February 2024

SUMMARY REPORT | How Meta is breaching consumers' fundamental rights, February 2024

MODEL COMPLAINT | February 2024

META PRIVACY POLICY | February 2024

LETTERS | European consumer groups take action against Meta for breaches of GDPR:

Timeline Meta Smokescreen 2024

 

'Meta Hit With European Complaints Over Data for Targeted Ads'
Bloomberg (29 February 2024)
…Meta Platforms Inc.face a swathe of complaints in Europe for allegedly failing to get proper consent before collecting vast amount of data about Facebook and Instagram users so it can target the ads they see…

Meta targeted in privacy complaints by EU consumer groups
Reuters (29 February 2024)
…The consumer bodies said Meta is not complying with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules on fair processing, data minimisation and purpose limitation, with no legal basis to the company's data collection and processing…

Meta accused of ‘massive, illegal’ data processing by European consumer groups
CNN (29 February 2024)
…Thursday’s complaints will potentially expose the company — for years the subject of intense regulatory scrutiny in Europe — to yet more legal action…

Asociaciones de consumidores de 8 países europeos denuncian a Meta por el uso de los datos personales
El Mundo (29 February 2024)
...According to BEUC, "the massive exploitation of the private lives of hundreds of millions of European consumers for commercial purposes does not respect fundamental principles of the GDPR....

Meta, nuova accusa in Europa: la raccolta dati su Facebook e Instagram è «massiva» e «illegale»
Corriere della Sera (29 February 2024)
...The complaints focus on the collection of data which users cannot give their freely given consent to, for example their sexual orientation, their emotional state, or addictions...

Contact Card
Communications Department

The European Consumer Organisation
Europäischer Verbraucherverband
Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs

Tel:
+32 2 743 15 90
Sébastien Pant, BEUC
Sébastien Pant
Deputy Head of Communications