Meta EU ad-free subscription:

Less than a month after launch, Meta’s ad-free subscription for European users is facing its first privacy concerns in the EU.

Austria-based digital rights group Noyb (stylized as noyb) filed a complaint with the country’s data protection authority on November 28, 2023, warning that such a model will make privacy an exclusive right “for the rich.”

The organization is now urging the Austrian Privacy Protection Agency to initiate the procedure to put an end to what it considers an ‘illegal processing’.

Pricey ad-free subscriptions for Facebook and Instagram

Officially launched in early November, Facebook and Instagram users in the EU, EEA and Switzerland can now opt out of all advertising on the two platforms by paying a subscription fee – and it’s not cheap.

Users must be at least 18 years old to sign up. They can choose between the cheaper desktop subscription for a monthly fee of € 9.99, or the smartphone counterpart for € 12.99 per month. Until March 1, 2024, the fee covers all associated profiles in a user’s Account Center. After that, a surcharge of €6 on desktop and €8 on iOS/Android will be applied. Let’s face it, that’s not something anyone who cares about their privacy can really afford.

In his official announcement, Meta describes the new subscription model as a way to “balance the demands of European regulators, while giving users choice and enabling Meta to continue serving all people in the EU, EEA and Switzerland.” However, according to noyb, data privacy should be a right accessible to everyone, regardless of their bank account.

Max Schrems, chairman of noyb, said: “Fundamental rights are generally available to everyone. How many people would still exercise their right to vote if they had to pay €250? There were times when land rights were reserved for the rich. It seems Meta wants to take us back more than a hundred years.’

Attempt to circumvent privacy legislation?

The high price of Meta’s ad-free plans isn’t the only thing the digital rights group is concerned about. Advocates also believe Meta is once again trying to circumvent its obligations to protect users’ data, which are barred by EU law.

“EU law requires consent to be the user’s true free will,” explains Felix Mikolasch, data protection lawyer at noyb. “In violation of this law, Meta charges a ‘privacy fee’ of up to €250 per year if someone dares to exercise their fundamental right to data protection.”

Mikolasch refers mainly to the GDPR rules, under which all online services must offer every user the opportunity to opt out of online tracking and personalized advertising – without having to pay for this. The Union has also recently introduced new obligations for large technology companies. Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), Meta, TikTok, Twitter, Google and Microsoft, among others, are prohibited from engaging in certain manipulative advertising practices.

It becomes even more sinister when you consider that the social media giant is not averse to getting into trouble with EU authorities for misusing user data. In January, Meta was fined €390 million over its advertising and data processing practices – a legal action triggered precisely by a 2018 NOYB complaint. The company was then fined a record $1.3 billion in May for unlawfully transferring data from EU users to the US.

It is in this climate that privacy advocates at noyb see Meta’s ad-free subscription model as yet another attempt to circumvent EU privacy laws.

As if all this were not enough, noyb also fears that Meta’s decision could set a dangerous precedent that could cause a domino effect within the sector. Privacy-famous TikTok has already confirmed it is testing ad-free plans outside the US –TechCrunch reports this.

Considering that, according to GoogleIf an average person has about 35 apps installed on their phone, online privacy could soon become a very expensive commodity that only a small portion of the population could afford.

“More than 20% of the EU population is already at risk of poverty. For the complainant in our case, as for many others, a ‘Pay or OK’ system would mean that you have to pay the rent or that you have privacy,” says Schrems.

All this means that most people will then have to give up their right to privacy, despite a Survey 2019 This suggests that only 3 to 10% of users actually agree to their personal data being used for targeted advertising. This so-called ‘Pay or OK’ system seriously conflicts with the ‘discretionary’ privacy right promoted by the GDPR and many other data protection laws.

Scherms said: “If 3% of people actually want to swim, but 99.9% end up in the water, every child knows that it was not a “free” choice. It’s neither smart nor legal – it’s just pathetic how Meta continues to ignore EU law.”