Meta's pay-or-consent model under fire from EU consumer group
(2025/01/23)
- Reference: 1737646207
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/01/23/metas_payorconsent_model_under_fire/
- Source link:
Meta has again come under fire for its pay-or-consent model in the EU.
The [1]complaint has come from the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), which has written to EU enforcement authorities about concerns that Meta's latest pay-or-consent policy might be infringing laws and fall foul of the Digital Markets Act (DMA.)
The concerns include worries that the consumers might be steered toward Meta's preferred options thanks to a confusing interface design and a degradation of the service for users who don't consent for their personal data to be used by the company.
[2]
The Reg screenshotted a Pay or Consent choice screen in the EU - click to enlarge
Agustín Reyna, Director General of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), described the changes made by Meta in response to concerns over its policy as "cosmetic" and said:
"In our view, the tech giant fails to address the fundamental issue that Facebook and Instagram users are not being presented with a fair choice and is making a weak bid to argue it is complying with EU law while still pushing users towards its behavioral ads system.
[3]
"It is important for consumer and data protection authorities and the European Commission to quickly investigate Meta's latest policy and, if needed, take immediate and effective measures to protect consumers."
[4]
[5]
Meta's pay-or-consent model is intended to give local users a choice – pay up or consent to be profiled and tracked via data collection. The model was controversial from the start and [6]attracted criticism early in 2024 from privacy and consumer rights groups in the EU.
The company made the changes in an attempt to comply with EU law.
[7]
In November 2024, Meta made [8]updates to the model, which included reducing the price of the no-ads subscription by 40 percent and allowing customers using the service for free to be able to opt to be shown fewer personalized ads.
[9]Apple auto-opts everyone into having their photos analyzed by AI for landmarks
[10]Ireland fines Meta for 2018 'View As' breach that exposed 30M accounts
[11]IBM sued again in storm over Weather Channel data sharing
[12]'Consent' LinkedIn used for data processing was not freely given, says Ireland
As far as the BEUC is concerned, this does not go far enough. The group said, "The new version of Meta's pay-or-consent policy fails to address the fundamental problems consumer groups identified in the tech giant's pay-or-consent initial approach."
Meta is less than impressed with the BEUC's statement.
Matt Pollard, Head of Privacy and Competition Communications for EMEA at Meta, told The Register , "We strongly disagree with BEUC's interpretation – the changes that we have announced go beyond what is required by EU law."
You can make your own fact-checker joke in the comments below. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.beuc.eu/press-releases/consumer-groups-red-card-metas-latest-pay-or-consent-policy
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2025/01/23/screenshot_pay_or_consent.jpg
[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=2Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&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=44Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&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=33Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/meta_gdpr_complaints/
[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=44Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://about.fb.com/news/2024/11/facebook-and-instagram-to-offer-subscription-for-no-ads-in-europe/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/03/apple_enhanced_visual_search/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/17/ireland_fines_meta_for_2018/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/ibm_weather_channel_privacy/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/25/consent_linkedin_dopc_fine/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The [1]complaint has come from the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), which has written to EU enforcement authorities about concerns that Meta's latest pay-or-consent policy might be infringing laws and fall foul of the Digital Markets Act (DMA.)
The concerns include worries that the consumers might be steered toward Meta's preferred options thanks to a confusing interface design and a degradation of the service for users who don't consent for their personal data to be used by the company.
[2]
The Reg screenshotted a Pay or Consent choice screen in the EU - click to enlarge
Agustín Reyna, Director General of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), described the changes made by Meta in response to concerns over its policy as "cosmetic" and said:
"In our view, the tech giant fails to address the fundamental issue that Facebook and Instagram users are not being presented with a fair choice and is making a weak bid to argue it is complying with EU law while still pushing users towards its behavioral ads system.
[3]
"It is important for consumer and data protection authorities and the European Commission to quickly investigate Meta's latest policy and, if needed, take immediate and effective measures to protect consumers."
[4]
[5]
Meta's pay-or-consent model is intended to give local users a choice – pay up or consent to be profiled and tracked via data collection. The model was controversial from the start and [6]attracted criticism early in 2024 from privacy and consumer rights groups in the EU.
The company made the changes in an attempt to comply with EU law.
[7]
In November 2024, Meta made [8]updates to the model, which included reducing the price of the no-ads subscription by 40 percent and allowing customers using the service for free to be able to opt to be shown fewer personalized ads.
[9]Apple auto-opts everyone into having their photos analyzed by AI for landmarks
[10]Ireland fines Meta for 2018 'View As' breach that exposed 30M accounts
[11]IBM sued again in storm over Weather Channel data sharing
[12]'Consent' LinkedIn used for data processing was not freely given, says Ireland
As far as the BEUC is concerned, this does not go far enough. The group said, "The new version of Meta's pay-or-consent policy fails to address the fundamental problems consumer groups identified in the tech giant's pay-or-consent initial approach."
Meta is less than impressed with the BEUC's statement.
Matt Pollard, Head of Privacy and Competition Communications for EMEA at Meta, told The Register , "We strongly disagree with BEUC's interpretation – the changes that we have announced go beyond what is required by EU law."
You can make your own fact-checker joke in the comments below. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.beuc.eu/press-releases/consumer-groups-red-card-metas-latest-pay-or-consent-policy
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2025/01/23/screenshot_pay_or_consent.jpg
[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=2Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&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=44Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&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=33Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/29/meta_gdpr_complaints/
[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=44Z5J2ACqfLBQIO550D_9ODAAAAQs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://about.fb.com/news/2024/11/facebook-and-instagram-to-offer-subscription-for-no-ads-in-europe/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/03/apple_enhanced_visual_search/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/17/ireland_fines_meta_for_2018/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/08/ibm_weather_channel_privacy/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/25/consent_linkedin_dopc_fine/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Third Option
Anonymous Coward
The best approach to Facebook is still:
You have 0 Friends
https://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/1hc2pe/south-park-you-have-0-friends-season-14-ep-4
Meta should consent or pay me
alain williams
I have never had a FB/... account and do not use their services. However they have a "shadow account" that contains my personal information, they store this outside of the UK & EU, I have not agreed to them having my information, them taking it outside the UK, they have not told me what they are using it for.
Either:
• Meta should seek consent before they use my information -- clearly [1]documented in the GDPR , or:
• Meta can pay me £1,000 per year to keep this shadow information. To be paid into my bank a/c not as credit to some service that I do not use.
[1] https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/lawful-basis/consent/what-is-valid-consent/
Re: Meta should consent or pay me
Guy de Loimbard
I'd like to see that in action.
I'll pull up and sandbag and get the popcorn ready for a long drawn out wait for a response :)
Noble thought, but it's Meta, so you know what they think of you!
Re: Meta should consent or pay me
Captain Hogwash
£1,000 per year? You're selling yourself too cheaply.
Third Option
My observation is that Meta have left out the third option:
1) Pay a monthly subscription and be free of adverts;
2) Have a free account and we'll use your personal data to bombard you with adverts (that's what pays for the service);
3) Leave and you don't have to pay nor be bombarded with adverts.
I opted for #3 many years ago and haven't missed anything Facebook provided. I don't have 100's of online friends, but they're replaced by the 10's of friends I now have time meet in person.