A large amount of unnecessary information about users, such as data used to infer sexual orientation or emotional state, was illegally collected by Meta Technology Group, violating privacy rules.
This is the allegation that eight consumer protection groups from European Union (EU) countries have filed a complaint against Meta. The plaintiffs asked the supervisory authorities to look into the accusation that the Facebook owner violated privacy rules by illegally collecting large amounts of user data.
The European Consumer Organization (BEUC), an umbrella body for 45 consumer groups, said eight of the groups had filed complaints with their respective national data protection authorities. These are the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
This is the latest case against Meta's user data collection practices. The groups claim that Meta collects an unnecessary amount of information about its users, arguing that the company's practices violate the provisions of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). BEUC, meanwhile, said Meta failed to comply with GDPR's fair processing, data minimization, and purpose limitation provisions, and that there was no legal basis for Meta's data collection and processing. The agency said that through its illegal activities, Meta promotes a surveillance-based advertising system that tracks consumers online and collects large amounts of personal data for the purpose of showing them ads.
Ursula Pachl, deputy director of the European Consumer Organization (ECO), stressed that it was time for data protection authorities to stop Meta from unfairly collecting and processing data and violating users' fundamental rights. Ms. Pachl also criticized Meta's recent launch of paid, ad-free subscription plans on Facebook and Instagram in Europe - something the company said was to comply with new EU technology regulations. However, according to Ms. Pachl, Meta is actually exploiting the cover of protecting users' privacy to make money from it.
Last May, EU regulators fined Meta a record €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) for violating GDPR rules by transferring Facebook users' personal data to servers in the United States. In October of that year, EU regulators forced Meta to start requiring users' consent to process their personal information for the purpose of serving them targeted ads. Days later, Meta launched a subscription service that allows European users to pay up to €12.99 ($14) a month for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. Meta said the service was part of the company's efforts to comply with GDPR.
MINH CHAU
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