Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, can no longer display personalized ads in European countries, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has decided. According to the deputy head of the EDPB, the decision will mean that the privacy of users of Meta’s platforms will now be better protected.
Meta must stop displaying ads based on users’ online behavior because they violate European privacy laws.
This decision was made on October 27 by the European Data Protection Board at the request of the personal data protection authorities Netherlands and Norway. The decision was made public on Wednesday.
User privacy will now be better protected
“Meta tracks what you post, click on or like on Facebook and Instagram and uses this information to offer personalized ads,” said Aleid Wolfsen, head of the Dutch Data Protection Authority and vice-chair of the EDPB.
– Mishandling the personal data of millions of people on Facebook is a business model for this company – he added. According to Wolfsen, the European regulator’s decision will mean that the privacy of users of Meta’s platforms will now be better protected.
The European headquarters of the parent company of Facebook and Instagram is located in Ireland and the EDPB therefore directed the country’s regulatory authority to take action within two weeks to ensure compliance with the ban.
Main photo source: Reuters Archive