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- Meta could be fined up to 4% of its global sales
- Meta says in the process of compliance
OSLO, Nov 1 (Portal) – Europe’s data regulator has agreed to extend a ban imposed by non-EU member Norway on “behavioral advertising” on Facebook and Instagram to all 30 countries of the European Union and European Economic Area, it said on Wednesday.
The ban on such advertising, which targets users by collecting their data, is a setback for U.S. tech giant Meta Platforms (META.O), the owner of the two social media services, which has joined efforts to curbing this practice.
According to the Norwegian data regulator, Meta is at risk of a fine of up to 4% of its global turnover.
The decision by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) is an instruction to the data regulator of Ireland, where Meta’s European headquarters is located, to impose a permanent ban on the company’s use of behavioral advertising within two weeks, the EDPB said in a statement to Portal .
“On October 27, the EDPB took a binding emergency decision… to impose a ban on the processing of personal data for behavioral advertising on the legal basis of contracts and legitimate interests throughout the European Economic Area,” it said.
Meta said on Wednesday it had already announced it would give users in the EU and EEA the ability to consent and offer a subscription model in November to meet regulatory requirements.
“EDPB members have been aware of this plan for weeks and we have already worked extensively with them to achieve an outcome satisfactory to all parties,” a company spokesperson said.
“This development unfairly ignores this careful and robust regulatory process.”
Since August 7, Meta has been hit with a daily fine of 1 million kroner ($90,000) in Norway for violating users’ privacy by using their data such as locations or browsing behavior for advertising, a business model that is common at Big Tech.
Norwegian data regulator Datatilsynet announced in September that it had referred the ongoing fine to the European regulator because it was only valid in Norway.
That penalty expires on November 3, but Meta could risk a much larger fine, according to Tobias Judin, head of Datatilsynet’s international department.
“As we now get a permanent ban, failure to comply with the EU/EEA-wide ban would in itself be a GDPR violation, punishable by up to 4% of global sales,” Judin told Portal.
GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, is the EU regulation on data protection.
Norway is not a member of the EU, but is part of the European internal market.
The decision affects around 250 million Facebook and Instagram users in Europe, Datatilsynet said.
($1 = 11.1800 Norwegian Kroner)
Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik and Tomasz Janowski
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