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Advocacy group NOYB has filed a complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority against Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:META) paid no-ads subscription service, which started this month, noting that it amounted to paying a fee to ensure privacy.
Last month, the tech giant said it will offer people access to Facebook and Instagram without any ads for a subscription fee in Europe, in an effort to meet regulatory requirements in the EU related to data privacy. Meta had noted that while people are subscribed, their information will not be used for ads.
Users can subscribe to the social media sites for €9.99 per month on the web or €12.99 per month on Apple’s (AAPL) iOS and Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Android operating systems. Users can opt for a free, ad-supported service. Meta had said in its blog post on Oct. 30 that in August, the company showed its intention to move people in the EU, European Economic Area, or EEA, and Switzerland to the GDPR legal basis of “Consent” for the purpose of processing data collected on its platforms for advertising purposes.
NOYB, or None Of Your Business, said on Tuesday that European users now have the “choice” to either consent to being tracked for personalized advertising – or pay up to €251.88 a year to retain their fundamental right to data protection on Instagram and Facebook.
“EU law requires that consent is the genuine free will of the user. Contrary to this law, Meta charges a “privacy fee” of up to €250 per year if anyone dares to exercise their fundamental right to data protection,” commented Felix Mikolasch, data protection lawyer at noyb.
The advocacy group added that not only is the cost unacceptable, but industry numbers indicate that only 3% of people want to be tracked, while more than 99% decide against a payment when faced with a “privacy fee.” NOYB noted that if Meta gets away with this, competitors will soon follow in its footsteps.
NOYB has urged the Austrian data protection authority to start an urgency procedure to stop Meta and suggested that the authority impose a deterrent fine.