One of the toughest tests for Meta Platforms‘ (META.O) paid no-ads subscription service, which was introduced in Europe this month, was posed on Tuesday by advocacy group NOYB, which complained to an Austrian regulator, claiming that the service amounted to paying a price to protect privacy.
Last month, Meta made the Facebook and Instagram service announcements. According to the statement, the action complies with EU regulations requiring customers to have a choice about collecting and using their data for targeted advertisements.
For Web users, the monthly fee for the ad-free service was 9.99 euros ($10.90), while iOS and Android customers had to pay 12.99 euros. According to Meta, a subscription model complies with a July judgment from Europe’s highest court and is a legitimate form of permission for an advertising-funded business.
There is a free, ad-supported option available to users. Max Schrems, a privacy activist who founded the Vienna-based digital rights organization NOYB (None of Your Business), stated that it disagreed with Meta’s definition of consent.
According to EU legislation, users’ permission must be based on their valid free will. In defiance of this legislation, Meta levies a ‘privacy cost’ of up to 250 euros annually on anyone who dared to use their fundamental right to data protection, according to a statement from Felix Mikolasch, a data protection attorney with NOYB.
NOYB submitted the complaint to the Austrian Data Protection Authority. It also criticized the fee’s amount.
“Not only is the cost unacceptable, but industry numbers suggest that only 3 percent of people want to be tracked, while more than 99 percent don’t exercise their choice when faced with a ‘privacy fee,'” claimed the organization. “If Meta gets away with this, competitors will soon follow in its footsteps.”
In contrast, the basic membership plan for Netflix (NFLX.O) costs 7.99 euros, while the premium services of Spotify (SPOT.N) and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) cost around 11 euros and 12 euros, respectively.
In response to privacy infractions, NOYB, which has lodged hundreds of complaints against significant internet companies, including Google, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), and Meta, has requested the Austrian privacy authority to speed up the process of stopping Meta and imposing a punishment.
Since Meta is headquartered in Ireland, the Irish data protection body in charge of the company will probably receive the complaint.
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