- By Ashish Singh
- Thu, 02 Nov 2023 10:02 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Meta seems to be in trouble yet another time after the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has announced the ban on targeted advertising for all the 30 countries present under the EU. It was first implemented by the non-EU member Norway and will now be expanded to all the other countries within 14 days.
This ban, which involves utilising data harvesting to target people, is a major blow for Meta Platforms, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. If Meta violates the prohibition, it might be fined up to 4% of its global revenue. The Irish data regulator, which is home to Meta's European headquarters, has been given instructions by the EDPB decision to impose a permanent ban in two weeks.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) said in a statement that it has made a binding and urgent decision to prohibit the processing of personal data for behavioural advertising across the European Economic Area, effective October 27. In order to comply with regulations, Meta has previously stated that it plans to create a subscription model and provide consumers in the EU and EEA the choice to consent in November.
Nevertheless, Meta voiced its dissatisfaction with the EDPB's ruling, noting that it had a strategy in place to address these issues and had been in conversations with the members for weeks. Meta now needs to cope with the possibility of paying fines because, since August, it has been liable to daily penalties in Norway for violating privacy laws pertaining to the use of data for advertising.
The European regulator received a referral of these fines from Datatilsynet, the Norwegian data authority, stating that the sanctions were exclusive to Norway. In addition to the indefinite prohibition that applies throughout the EU and EEA, Meta's noncompliance may result in harsher penalties under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), perhaps as much as 4% of its global revenue.
Approximately 250 million Facebook and Instagram users in Europe are impacted by this development. Norway participates in the European single market despite not being a member of the EU, hence its policies have implications for the larger EU and EEA.