Facebook’s parent organisation Meta has been fined $414 million by European Union regulators over the company’s “illegal” use of personal data for targeted advertising.
The fines were announced by Ireland’s privacy watchdog Data Protection Commission (DPC) on Wednesday. According to the regulator, Meta’s leading social media platforms Facebook and Instagram breached transparency obligations laid out in the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by forcing users to opt for personalised advertisements. The ruling surrounds Meta’s particular practice of gathering personal information which is used to target personalised adverts.
The multi-billion dollar business, which involves tracking a user’s online activity, has been called out time and time again by critics of the Big Tech and regulators, and constitutes a significant portion of revenues generated by Meta.
The case brought to widespread attention Meta’s terms-of-service agreement that users have to accept in order to sign up on its platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram). The statement gives a user the options to either agree to the terms or stop using Meta services. The regulators have termed the language used to ask for permission to collect personal information “unlawful” as “users had insufficient clarity as to what processing operations were being carried out on their personal data.” The DPC had reportedly finalised its decision in December.
Meta will have to pay about $233 million for privacy violations on Facebook and $191 million for similar breaches on Instagram.
The firm has also been directed to align its data processing practices with the EU rules within three months. Meta has, however, expressed disappointment over the DPC’s decision and intends to appeal against it.
“We strongly believe our approach respects GDPR, and we’re therefore disappointed by these decisions and intend to appeal both the substance of the rulings and the fines,” Meta said in a detailed blog post published on Wednesday. “There has also been inaccurate speculation and misreporting on what these decisions mean. We want to reassure users and businesses that they can continue to benefit from personalised advertising across the EU through Meta’s platforms.”
The past year has been a tough one for Meta, which saw both a significant increase in regulatory scrutiny and drastic declines in revenues. The company, roiled by massive layoffs and decreasing popularity, has been scrambling to get back its position as the top player of the tech industry. In November, Meta was fined $275 million by the DPC for failure to prevent the massive 2019 data breach. On the whole, the firm has been slapped with fines amounting to more than a billion dollars in less than a year by the Irish watchdog, which also regulates Google, TikTok, Amazon, and other corporations whose EU headquarters are located in Ireland.
The DPC’s latest ruling has been hailed by critics as a historic win for Meta consumers, but it has yet to be seen what impact it will demonstrate on the tech giant’s advertisement business.
