https://gizmodo.com/facebook-instagram-targeted-ads-europe-
privacy-ruling-1849860593

[By Thomas Germain, Published December 7, 2022]

This Privacy Ruling Against Facebook and Instagram Could Spell the End of Targeted Ads

A couple of excerpts:

"Privacy regulators in the European Union have ruled that Meta,
parent company of Facebook and Instagram, can't make giving up
data for targeted ads a condition of joining the social
networks, according to reports published Tuesday in the Wall
Street Journal and Reuters. The decision threatens to upend the
social media giant's business model and alter the financial
underpinnings of the internet.

"Signing up for Facebook or Instagram means clicking past a
privacy policy and consenting to the social networks' digital
surveillance for advertising purposes. If you don't agree, you
can't have an account. But the European Data Protection Board
(EDPB) made up of all of Europe's privacy regulators issued a
series of new decisions Monday reportedly declaring that this
kind of coerced consent violates the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR), the EU's sweeping privacy law.

[...]

"An EU ruling only has a direct effect on businesses operating
in the EU, but it's a sign that governments may finally be
changing their tune when it comes to privacy. So far, lawmakers
have been willing to pass privacy rules that make certain data
practices more cumbersome for the business world, but this is
the first time that a major government body has taken steps to
curtail targeted ads outright.

"But the GDPR serves as a model for the privacy laws in the
United States and across the globe. If this strict
interpretation of the law is successful-however you define
success-it could hint at a far more private future.

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