Spanish media sues Meta for ignoring GDPR and harvesting data
- Reference: 1701761407
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/12/05/spanish_media_meta_lawsuit/
- Source link:
The lawsuit, [1]filed by the Information Media Association (AMI) on behalf of 83 Spanish outlets – including industry leaders El Mundo , El País and others – accuses Meta of violating the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) since it came into effect in 2018 until mid-2023, when Meta finally bowed to regulator pressure and [2]promised it would begin explicitly asking for EU users' permission when seeking to collect data for advertising purposes.
According to AMI, Meta "failed to comply with [the GDPR], ignoring the regulatory requirement that citizens must consent to the use of their data for advertising profiling," and that its scofflaw practices contributed to its dominant advertising position across the EU. The Register was unable to obtain a copy of the lawsuit.
[3]
Meta's dominance – which it owes in large part to the sheer volume of data it has collected on EU citizens – has left Spanish outlets unable to compete, argued AMI president José Joly. The sustainability of the Spanish media is therefore at risk, he added.
[4]
[5]
Meta hasn't responded to questions from The Register .
One GDPR lawsuit after another
Because Meta isn't accused of violating Spanish law, but EU bloc rules, similar lawsuits could appear elsewhere.
"Of course, in any other EU country, the same legal proceeding could be initiated," lawyer Nicolás González-Cuéllar, who is representing AMI in its suit, [6]told Reuters .
Indeed, Meta is already fighting other GDPR-related matters.
[7]
After giving in to GDPR regulations that force it to notify users explicitly that their data was being collected to serve targeted advertisements, Meta in October [8]introduced paid versions of Facebook and Instagram that eliminate ads entirely.
[9]Meta facing third fine of 2023 for mishandling EU user data under GDPR
[10]Norway court upholds miniscule fine against Meta for flouting privacy rules
[11]Meta threatens to pull all news from California rather than pay El Reg a penny
[12]Europe bans Meta from using personal data to target ads
According to Meta, the EU's top court "expressly recognized that a subscription model, like the one we are announcing, is a valid form of consent for an ads funded service." In other words, if you choose not to pay for Facebook in the EU, consider yourself opted in to providing your data for ad targeting.
Privacy activist group None of Your Business (NOYB) filed a data protection [13]complaint in Austria against Meta over its pay-or-okay subscription model last week, calling Meta's premium model a "privacy fee" – at odds with the spirit of EU privacy regulations.
NOYB noted that Meta's rivals are likely watching the progress of the social media kraken's attempts to justify its argument that not subscribing represents opting into data harvesting – which could eventually lead to widespread charging for what it considers a fundamental right to privacy.
"EU law requires that consent is the genuine free will of the user," [14]argued NOYB data protection lawyer Felix Mikolasch. "Contrary to this law, Meta charges a 'privacy fee' of up to €250 per year if anyone dares to exercise their fundamental right to data protection." ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ami.info/ami-demanda-a-meta-por-competencia-desleal-y-reclama-mas-de-550-millones.html
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/02/meta_eu_gdpr_advertising/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZW8C2XqefnAmQfGrrsRF5AAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZW8C2XqefnAmQfGrrsRF5AAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZW8C2XqefnAmQfGrrsRF5AAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/spanish-media-association-files-598-mln-lawsuit-against-facebook-owner-meta-2023-12-04/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZW8C2XqefnAmQfGrrsRF5AAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/31/meta_ad_free_europe/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/18/meta_facing_third_gdpr_fine/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/09/07/norway_meta_fine/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/01/meta_california_news_ban/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/01/eu_data_meta_networking/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/28/metas_eu_privacy_fee_triggers/
[14] https://noyb.eu/en/noyb-files-gdpr-complaint-against-meta-over-pay-or-okay
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Mmmm.....
I was wondering about the AMI ads on the telly here in Spain; the main message of which is "trust no one but us to tell you the truth".
Now I wouldn't touch anything to do with Mr Z but I also get the smell that the Spanish Media has decided that only the Spanish Media tells the truth and everyone else is a liar, whereas the Spanish Media generally tend to be slightly right of fascist in its views.
So we seem to have an old fashioned turf war kicking off between a lumbering data elephant and a Franco era data fly. I wonder if the elephant will notice?
Re: Mmmm.....
the main message of which is "trust no one but us to tell you the truth".
You might want to check how truthful your favourite media is by looking at [1]https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/
[1] https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/
Re: Mmmm.....
And they claim El Reg isn't biased and scores highly on factual accuracy: [1]mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-register-uk/
[1] https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-register-uk/
Re: Mmmm.....
"could also fit into the pro-science category."
Could? Could? Almost actionable I'd have thought.
Interesting. Thanks for the link.
Re: Mmmm.....
El Mundo and La Vanguardia maybe, but El País is at most about as far right as Tony Blair.
For a mere €550 million? I doubt it, they've probably given the case to a legal intern on work experience and forgotten about it already.
Should be a worldwide regulation
GPDR should be international law in my opinion. Data harvesting through smartphone apps, web page cookies, and other surveillance tech goes against too much of privacy and freedom in my view. Why should perverted voyeurism be an acceptable business model?
According to meta
... the CJEU supposedly "expressly recognized that a subscription model, like the one we are announcing, is a valid form of consent for an ads funded service."
But of course it didn't. A passing comment without significant force of law was made to the effect that [1]"an appropriate fee" might be considered as an alternative to adverts. This is not the same as refusing to subscribe implying consent. to adverts
[1] https://noyb.eu/en/meta-facebook-instagram-move-pay-your-rights-approach
"systemic and massive disregard for privacy laws"
Yup, that sounds like Meta, all right.
El Zuck will never give a flying fig about user privacy because his entire empire (and fortune) is based on pilfering that privacy.
To teach him the error of his ways will require liberal and enthusiastic percussive maintenance with bats (corked or not). Given that that is legally frowned upon, the only other option is pathetically small fines which will be royally ignored until the EU in its globality decides to fine META a year's worth of its global revenue.
Then El Zuck will start listening.
But since that won't happen . . .
I hope Spain goes all in on META
Comfy chair, the lot!