EU Requirement for Facebook to Obtain Permission to Display Personalized Ads
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, will be required to restrict the extent of its personalized advertisements in the European Union. The Court of Justice in the EU has determined that Meta’s Facebook brand must acquire consent prior to delivering certain personalized ads within the region. The ruling states that the vast amount of data processing involved in these tailored ads cannot be justified without the explicit permission of users.
We asked Meta for a comment. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, a spokesperson said the social media giant is “still evaluating the court’s decision” and would provide more information in the future.
Meta has already appealed a €390 million EU fine (now worth about $425 million) for requiring Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp users to accept personalized ads just to use those platforms. The governing body insists on “freely given” consent for the features, and believes Meta violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by asking for ad targeting data just to use Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp on a basic level. In its new ruling, the court said the onus is on the site operator to show that people willingly give permission.
The decision is part of a broader ruling by the court that local competition authorities, such as Germany’s Federal Antitrust Office, can take into account compliance with other laws (such as the GDPR) when investigating antitrust cases. Simply put, a country could decide that a violation of the rules in one area is evidence of broader anti-competitive behavior.
The judgment is somewhat vague, and it is not clear how the authorities will interpret the requirement in practice. Meta may have to ask for permission to display personalized ads on Facebook and other platforms. This could improve user privacy, but affect the company’s bottom line. Asunto warned of a hit to its ad revenue when iOS 14 gave users the option to opt out of ad tracking in apps – this could be another blow that affects everyone in the EU regardless of the device they use.
