Meta has complied with European Union orders and allows users in the Old Continent to opt out of targeted advertising.
In January 2023, Brussels imposed fines of €210 million and €180 million respectively on Facebook and Instagram for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This sanction had the expected deterrent effect on Facebook’s parent company. From April 5, 2023Internet users who request it will no longer see advertisements related to the videos and content they have viewed on Meta’s social networks.
Facebook gives its users a little more control over their data Europeans, but do not abandon the idea of having the European decision annulled. Europeans will be able to deactivate targeted advertising, but the procedure will be an obstacle course and the changes made will be only partial. According to The Wall Street JournalFacebook will make a form available for people who no longer want to receive personalized advertisements.
Meta implements a procedure to disable targeted ads, but does not say the last word
Following this procedure does not guarantee that you will no longer be “tracked”. On the one hand, the decision to respond to user requests remains the responsibility of the social network, Meta reserves the right to refuse some. Otherwise, ad targeting is not completely disabled. No matter what, users will always see ads related to their age and geographic location.
Meta complies as it continues its confrontation with European regulators. With 2 billion daily active users, the company’s business model, based on personalized advertising, is far too important to be amputated without a fight. Will Meta’s half measures and deliberately restrictive procedure to comply with the GDPR be enough to avoid lawsuits in the future? Nothing is less certain. According to the American financial daily, Meta’s tactic, which asks users to “opt out of the targeting program instead of asking for their consent from the start, can give rise to new complaints “.
