Meta has to pay 390 million euros for data breaches

Meta has to pay a fine of 390 million euros. The company has breached EU data protection rules, according to Irish regulators. The impact on the Facebook mother should be enormous.

Facebook parent Meta has to pay a fine of 390 million euros. The reason: The social media company violated EU data protection regulations. That was decided by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), reports among others the BBC.

EU punishes: Meta misuses user data

According to the report, the way Meta asked for permission to use users’ personal information for advertising on Facebook and Instagram was unlawful.

Accordingly, the Commission found that both social media channels could not force consent. Previously, users had to either accept the use of their data or alternatively leave the platform.

The trigger for the investigation by the DPC was a complaint that the data protection officer Max Schrems filed in 2018 on behalf of two users in Austria and Belgium. At that time, the new General came into force in the EU Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in force.

According to the Irish Data Protection Authority, forcing user consent in this way constitutes a violation of the GDPR.

Meta wants to defend himself against judgment

Meta representatives argued loudly BBC-Report that Facebook and Instagram are inherently personalized. Targeted advertising is therefore part of this personalization and an essential part of how the platform works.

In addition, the company stated that it does not give users an ultimatum and that the platform simply cannot function without using data for advertising.

Also, Meta would allegedly not force people to accept the use of their data. Instead, consumers would be given a range of tools to control the use of their data.

Privacy advocates celebrate their victory

Privacy advocates are pleased with the Irish authorities’ verdict. According to BBC means the decision that in the future users must be able to choose how their data should be used for targeted online advertising.

Schrems in particular is happy about the success. Again mirror reports that he is not aware of any other company that has attempted to ignore the General Data Protection Regulation in such an arrogant manner.

Not the first massive fine for Facebook mother

The current fine is the second significant penalty imposed on Meta by the Irish regulator. The company received a fine of 265 million euros back in November.

The reason for this was a data leak from 2021. At that time, hackers had published the data of over 533 million Facebook users.

With the current fine, the social media group has to pay a total of 1.1 billion euros to the Irish supervisory authority. Especially with regard to the falling share price, the fines are likely to hurt the company.

Will Meta change its business model?

According to mirror the long-term consequences for the company are likely to be enormous. Because the judgment also means that Meta has to massively change the way it works and disable personalized advertising for Facebook and Instagram accounts. However, most of the revenue comes from advertising.

The DPC is involved in monitoring and complying with EU data protection law as both Instagram and Facebook have their European headquarters in Ireland.

After the verdict, Meta now has three months to change the way it works. Meta is disappointed with the decision. According to BBC the company plans to appeal. It will also continue to serve personalized advertising across its platforms.

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