Meta faces permanent ban on targeted ads across Europe

Norway has succeeded in getting the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to make permanent and extend across Europe its ban on Meta (Facebook’s parent company) harvesting user data for targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Watch them cry foul, threaten to pull out, start a legal fight, then go nowhere like the abusive type they are.

I wish they would pull out. It’s fucking ridiculous that so much of Europe is apparently just ok with using a Meta product for the defacto texting platform (WhatsApp).

Eh, it’s not like we started using it because it was Meta’s. They bought it when it was already popular, and switching everyone to something else is difficult.

Yeah, WhatsApp was ported to basically every single platform that was relevant in 2009-2010 when it launched: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Series 40 and Windows Phone. Supporting Blackberry and Nokia mobile OS which were huge at the time as well as the new smartphone OS’s was genius.

Sure I understand the reasons why it’s this way, but it doesn’t make it a good idea.

Oh, it’s Messenger in Hungary. Not that it’s any better, just saying.

I mean that’s basically the same difference. It’s owned by the same company.

Meta is the cancer of the internet. The sooner they leave the better.

I hate that Meta bought it but I have to admit it is the best messaging app I have ever used for the last 10 years. I guess the enshitification will happen at some point.

Better than the US, at least in Europe you are not forced to buy a specific device just to be able to communicate.

Who knows, if Facebook gets severely limited by these laws, maybe we’ll all switch to Signal or something.

I use Android and I exchange text messages with iPhone users all the time. They don’t use iMessage with me because my friends aren’t assholes.

You’re not forced to buy a specific device there. They all text each other fine. You just don’t get fancy iMessage features if you’re on Android.

Watch them cry foul, threaten to pull out

Ofc. But childish maneuvers are generally less effective in Europe where authorities are still authorities and not just the revenge actors with the bigger guns.

Yep - and they’re too big a market to abandon, meaning they’ll just roll over in the end.

Meta’s practices also collected protected data like race, religion, and sexual orientation. Meta disputed that it needed explicit consent, arguing that agreeing to terms of service was enough, but courts rejected this.

Oh please let this be the beginning of a global backlash against corporate EULA’s and the start of a path towards a few well understood EULA’s, similar to how we have a few well understood FOSS licenses.

[chuckles evilly in Norwegian]

Well yes. Unfortunately that just reminds me of Beavis and Butthead so it’s not really evil enough.

This is awesome but I don’t really understand.

The purported issue is that they don’t have explicit consent for some data points. They apparently responded by saying they were going to charge a subscription.

Why wouldn’t they just get consent? I’m sure most fb users will just agree to anything put in front of them.

Facebook collects data from various sites and doesn’t care if you are a user or not.

How can you get a consent from someone who doesn’t even know facebook collects data from?

This is the funny thing. You don’t. It has to be informed consent. ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪

Which makes Meta’s entire business illegal in the EU, thus the lawsuits and bans

It’s about the part where they can’t hide the data collection in the terms and conditions of the site. You have to have a separate clear consent step for them to collect the data.

However, regulators have questioned whether the prices are too high to give users a real choice.

I bet there is something like what of they don’t consent? Then they have the choice to pay the subscription instead of being denied access to the site and therefore not make any money for Meta.

Why wouldn’t they just get consent?

That would mean to accept a possible ‘No’ as an answer. Something thoroughly new to them. They still prefer to continue without giving a damn.

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Meta faces permanent ban on targeted ads across Europe(stackdiary.com)

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