Meta fined €390 million for illegally forcing ads on Facebook, Instagram users
The European Union data watchdog has slammed Meta, parent company to Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, with a €390 million fine for illegally forcing users to accept personalised ads.
Meta was accused of breaching the data privacy of its users, coercing them to accept its terms of use which requires accessing their online activity before gaining access to the social networks.
Users who do not agree to these terms were automatically denied access to their social media accounts.
The EU data protection board claims that Meta forced users to accept the adverts by including its legal consent in the terms of agreement, in gross violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Meta was fined €210 million for breaching users’ data privacy on Facebook and €180 million for users on Instagram, totalling €390 million.
This is the latest addition to four other fines the company has gotten since 2021, which was prompted by official complaints from users since 2018 when the GDPR became effective.
Meta said they were disappointed and would appeal the fine in a statement on Wednesday.
“We strongly believe our approach respects GDPR, and we’re therefore disappointed by these decisions and intend to appeal both the substance of the rulings and the fines.”
We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.
More from Peoples Gazette
Economy
NAHCO ground equipment collides with Air Peace aircraft, damages plane
“The NAHCO staff had no reason to be where he was and he was not assigned to the aircraft and how he rammed into our aircraft is still shocking.”
Heading 4
Northerners will treat Tinubu as they did MKO Abiola, says APC chieftain
Mr Umar mentioned that he was confident that the way the North unanimously voted for Mr Abiola in 1993 and Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 would be replicated.
Economy
Buhari’s 2023 budget will cause massive inflation, unemployment, exchange rate collapse: Utomi
“I absolutely blame Buhari’s government for the economic woes we are going through. What they have done in the last eight years has not worked.”
Anti-Corruption
Buhari failed to stop fuel subsidy fraud despite promises: Femi Adesina
Finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, has however, said fuel subsidy payment by the federal government will be stopped in June 2023.
Health
Roe v Wade: U.S. moves to make abortion pills available in retail pharmacies
Anti-abortion campaigner, Marjorie Dannenfelser, accused the Joe Biden administration of valuing abortion profits over the lives of women.
Heading 5
Ogun poly staffs shut down institution, protest many months of unpaid salaries, arrears
Some of their placards read: “Enough of suffering and smiling”; “Implementation of minimum wage”; “Pay our pension deduction (55 months).”
