Meta has been fined €390 million ($414 million) by European Union’s personalized ads on Facebook and Instagram units. EU has also given an ultimatum to Meta to ensure bring its services in line with EU laws.
Meta has now been given 3 months to come up with the processing of new rules that fall in line with EU rules. The Irish Data Protection Commission slapped Facebook with a €210 million fine and Instagram a €180 million. This fine is based on Meta’s terms of service which require users to accept personalized ads when signing up to the platforms. This requirement violates the EU’s rules and regulations.
The Irish watchdog further states that Meta “is not entitled to rely on the ‘contract’ legal basis in connection with the delivery of behavioral advertising” on Facebook and Instagram, and the way customer data is processed violates EUs GDPR laws.
The Irish authority is the lead watchdog for some of Silicon Valley’s biggest tech firms including Meta. This new probing results from complaints against Facebook and Instagram in 2018.
Meta said on Wednesday that there needs to be more clarity regarding regulations, and what legal basis companies should use for specific advertisements. Meta also stated that it “strongly disagrees” with Irish Authority’s findings, and will appeal.
“These decisions do not prevent targeted or personalized advertising on our platform,” Meta said in an emailed statement. “The decisions relate only to which legal basis Meta uses when offering certain advertising.”
