November 1, 2023 at 07:49PM
The European Data Protection Board has extended the temporary ban on targeted advertising on Facebook and Instagram, imposed by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority. The ban prohibits the processing of personal data for behavioral advertising across the European Economic Area (EEA). Facebook (now Meta) has been instructed to comply with the ban and bring its processing operations into compliance with GDPR regulations. Meta has been fined multiple times for illegal behavioral advertising and for failing to protect user data.
Key takeaways from the meeting notes:
1. The European Data Protection Board has extended the temporary ban on targeted advertising on Facebook and Instagram, imposed by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority (DPA) in July.
2. Meta (formerly Facebook) uses content preferences, user-posted information, and location data to build personalized profiles for targeted advertising, known as behavioral advertising.
3. The European watchdog has given Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) a binding decision to ban the processing of personal data for behavioral advertising across the entire European Economic Area (EEA) within two weeks.
4. Meta has one week to comply with the order once the Irish data regulator finishes evaluating their proposed consent-based approach for processing user data.
5. The EDPB considers contract as an unsuitable legal basis for Meta’s processing of personal data for behavioral advertising. Meta has also been found non-compliant with previous orders.
6. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority has notified Meta that their business model and data usage are in breach of European privacy regulations.
7. The Norwegian DPA has raised the matter to the Personal Data Protection Board (EDPB) for a permanent ban on Meta’s illegal activities at the European level.
8. Meta was fined €390 million for illegal behavioral advertising by the Irish DPC in December 2022 and plans to appeal the fine.
9. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found Meta’s GDPR approach to behavioral advertising to be non-compliant with EU regulations.
10. Meta received another fine of €265 million for failing to protect Facebook users’ data from scrapers after a data leak in November 2022.