Consumer associations from 8 European countries, including Greece, appealed today to the data protection authorities against the paid subscription system that Meta imposed on Facebook and Instagram “in breach of EU rules.”
For these organizations, this system, which consists of paying to avoid being the target of advertisements, is “a smokescreen intended to distract the consumer from the unfair processing of his personal data.”
Since November, Meta has offered European Facebook and Instagram users a choice between continuing to use these services for free by agreeing to hand over their personal data to receive targeted ads or paying a subscription to stop seeing ads.
The formula was presented by the giant US company as a way to comply with European rules on the processing of personal data, which have already cost it convictions and fines.
But Meta is again accused of violating the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
