Security News > 2023 > January > Irish Regulators Fine Facebook $414 Million for Forcing Users to Accept Targeted Ads

The Irish Data Protection Commission has fined Meta Platforms €390 million over its handling of user data for serving personalized ads in what could be a major blow to its ad-fueled business model.

To that end, the privacy regulator has ordered Meta Ireland to pay two fines - a €210 million fine over violations of the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation related to Facebook, and a €180 million for similar violations in Instagram.

"Meta Ireland is not entitled to rely on the 'contract' legal basis in connection with the delivery of behavioral advertising as part of its Facebook and Instagram services, and that its processing of users' data to date, in purported reliance on the 'contract' legal basis, amounts to a contravention of Article 6 of the GDPR," the DPC said.

While Meta has argued that tailoring the ads it offers based on data it has about users' online behavior is a necessary part of the personalized service it offers, the company has three months to bring its data processing operations into compliance.

The class action lawsuit was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy firm that used the harvested data to inform political campaigns.

In a related development, France's privacy watchdog, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés, has hit Apple with a €8 million fine for not obtaining iPhone users' consent in iOS 14.6 prior to using identifiers to present targeted ads.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2023/01/irish-regulators-fine-facebook-414.html