European Consumers Challenge Meta Paid Service as Privacy 'Smokescreen'

Meta has reaped rich financial rewards by selling its users' data to advertisers, but its model has pit it against EU regulators. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP/File
Meta has reaped rich financial rewards by selling its users' data to advertisers, but its model has pit it against EU regulators. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP/File
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European Consumers Challenge Meta Paid Service as Privacy 'Smokescreen'

Meta has reaped rich financial rewards by selling its users' data to advertisers, but its model has pit it against EU regulators. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP/File
Meta has reaped rich financial rewards by selling its users' data to advertisers, but its model has pit it against EU regulators. Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP/File

Consumer groups from eight EU countries lodged complaints on Thursday against Meta, accusing the US company of illegally processing user data and using its "pay or consent" system as a "smokescreen" for privacy breaches.
Meta has reaped rich financial rewards by selling Facebook and Instagram user data to advertisers, but its business model has pit the US-based firm against EU regulators over data privacy, AFP said.
In November, Meta launched a "pay or consent" system allowing users to withhold use of their data for ad targeting in exchange for a monthly fee -- a model already facing two challenges from privacy and consumer advocates.
Announcing the latest action, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) called the system "a smokescreen to obscure the real problem of massive, illegal data processing of users which goes on regardless of what users choose."
Eight consumer groups in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Spain are filing complaints with their local data protection authorities, the Brussels-based umbrella body said in a statement.
The groups argue that Meta is still violating the European Union's mammoth general data protection regulation, which has been at the root of EU court cases against the online giant.
"It's time for data protection authorities to stop Meta's unfair data processing and its infringing of people's fundamental rights," said Ursula Pachl, BEUC deputy director general.
BEUC in a report said that Meta is violating the EU data law's principles that demand transparency as well as limiting how much user data it processes and what it is used for.
"Meta seems to be of the opinion that in order for the company to earn money with advertising, it is justified to collect any imaginable data on consumers' activities, location, personalities, behavior, attitudes and emotions," the report said.
"In reality, the massive exploitation of the private lives of hundreds of millions of European consumers for commercial gain fails to respect various fundamental principles of the GDPR."
Flurry of complaints
The Silicon Valley company allows users of Instagram and Facebook in Europe to pay between 10 and 13 euros (around $11 and $14) a month to opt out of data sharing.
Under the GDPR law, consent must be freely given but BEUC argues that its model coerces consumers into accepting Meta's processing of their personal data.
"The company also fails to show that the fee it imposes on consumers who do not consent is indeed necessary, which is a requirement stipulated by" an EU top court.
"Under these circumstances, the choice about how consumers want their data to be processed becomes meaningless and is therefore not free," the report said.
The challenges are the latest in a cat-and-mouse game between the EU and Meta.
The EU's data watchdog, the EDPB, in December told Meta it could not use the personal data of users for targeted ads without their explicit consent.
The EDPB is due to decide in the next few weeks whether a fee system like Meta's violates the bloc's data privacy laws.
Thursday's complaint is the third against Meta's "pay or consent" scheme.
BEUC in November said together with 19 of its members that they had launched a joint complaint with Europe's network of consumer protection authorities against the system.
Before that, the privacy group NOYB, which has won countless victories against Meta and others, filed a complaint.



UK Plans to Increase Control over Google in search

The new Google logo is seen in this illustration taken May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
The new Google logo is seen in this illustration taken May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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UK Plans to Increase Control over Google in search

The new Google logo is seen in this illustration taken May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
The new Google logo is seen in this illustration taken May 13, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Britain's competition regulator on Tuesday said it was proposing to designate Google with "strategic market status" to give it greater control over how the US tech giant operates search services.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said steps it could take included making it easier for users to access different search providers and ensuring fair ranking principles for businesses appearing on Google search, Reuters reported.

It also proposed more transparency and control for publishers whose content appeared in search results if it goes ahead with the designation in October.

Google will be the first company designated since the regulator gained new powers this year.

Google said the move could have significant implications for businesses and consumers in Britain.

"We're concerned that the scope of the CMA's considerations remains broad and unfocused, with a range of interventions being considered before any evidence has been provided," said Oliver Bethell, Google's senior director for competition.