Meta accused of ‘massive, illegal’ data processing by European consumer groups

London (CNN) — European consumer rights groups have accused Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, of carrying out a “massive” and “illegal” operation of collecting data from hundreds of millions of users in the region.

Posted 5:31 a.m. Feb 29 — Updated 5:31 a.m. Feb 29

Anna Cooban

, CNN

CNN — London (CNN) — European consumer rights groups have accused Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, of carrying out a “massive” and “illegal” operation of collecting data from hundreds of millions of users in the region.

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), an umbrella body for 45 consumer groups, said eight of the groups were filing complaints with their respective national data protection authorities Thursday.

The groups claim that Meta (META) collects an unnecessary amount of information on its users — such as data used to infer their sexual orientation, emotional state or even their susceptibility to addiction — which they are unable to freely consent to.

The company’s practices, the groups argue, breach parts of the European Union’s signature data privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR.

“With its illegal practices, Meta fuels the surveillance-based ads system which tracks consumers online and gathers vast amounts of personal data for the purpose of showing them adverts,” the BEUC said in a statement.

CNN has contacted Meta for comment.

Thursday’s complaints will potentially expose the company — for years the subject of intense regulatory scrutiny in Europe — to yet more legal action.

Last May, EU regulators fined the tech giant a record-breaking €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) for violating GDPR rules by transferring the personal data of Facebook users to servers in the United States.

‘Pay or consent’

In October, EU regulators forced Meta to start asking for explicit consent from its users to process their personal information for the purpose of delivering them targeted advertisements.

Several days later, Meta launched a subscription service allowing its European users to pay up to €12.99 ($14) a month to use ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. From Friday, it also plans to introduce additional monthly charges for each new account a user sets up as part of that offering.

Meta has said the service is part of its efforts to comply with the GDPR.

But the BEUC argued Thursday that Meta’s subscription service offers users “an unfair and misleading choice” as its data processing isn’t transparent, meaning users cannot know how subscribing would change the way their information is processed. Moreover, Meta’s market dominance means that users cannot easily leave its platforms without cutting themselves off from their family and friends.

The organization filed a complaint with European consumer protection authorities in November, arguing that this “pay-or-consent” approach was an example of an unfair and “aggressive” commercial practice prohibited under EU law.

“Meta’s offer to consumers is smoke and mirrors to cover up what is, at its core — the same old hoovering up of all kinds of sensitive information about people’s lives, which it then monetizes through its invasive advertising model,” Ursula Pachl, deputy director general of the BEUC, said in a statement Thursday.

Brian Fung contributed to this article.

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