The Italian competition watchdog accuses Meta of not having properly informed users about the use of their data for commercial purposes.
The Italian competition watchdog announced on Wednesday that it was imposing a fine of 3.5 million euros on the technological giant Meta for lack of information to users of its social networks Instagram and Facebook on the use of their data for commercial purposes.
“During the Instagram registration process, users did not receive clear information about the collection and use of their data for commercial purposes. In addition, when Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended, no useful communication was not provided for possible complaints”, writes the Competition and Market Guarantee Authority in a press release.
She also criticizes Meta for not having provided an explanation on the reasons which led it to suspend Facebook accounts – following an “automated” or “human” examination of the content of these accounts – and for not having informed Facebook and Instagram users have avenues to challenge these suspensions. The dispute deadline, set at 30 days, is also considered too “short”.
Practices criticized
For these “two unfair commercial practices”, which Meta put an end to during the Italian procedure, the competition authority therefore imposed a fine of 3.5 million euros on Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. and its American parent company Meta Platforms Inc.
Meta is targeted by Brussels for breaching the rule which requires it to request user consent in order to be able to combine personal data from its different services for advertising profiling purposes.
To comply, Meta offered Facebook and Instagram users a paid subscription that allows them to avoid being targeted by advertising. But privacy advocates see it as an unfair practice and a violation of consumer rights.
And the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), European regulator, in April ordered large platforms to offer “an equivalent alternative option free of charge”, “free of targeted advertising, for example with advertisements based on a reduced volume data or not involving the processing of personal data.
