Dutch regulator wants ban on social media firms forcing users to allow data tracking

Social media companies like Facebook and Instagram should not be allowed to force users to comply with data tracking in exchange for access to the platform. This was stated by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) and the other privacy regulators in Europe, unified as the European Data Protection Board (EDPB).

The watchdogs think platforms should offer users a free option in which their data can only be tracked in a more limited manner. Some social media companies currently state that people can only use their sites for free if they agree to their personal data being used for targeted advertising. They are then offered advertisements based on the person's internet search results.

By "followed to a limit," the regulator means that the person is still exposed to advertisements but only to content that somebody has been looking at on the platform. "For example, an advertisement for a car by a post about cars," the AP explained.

The EDPB thinks that consumers are not given a fair choice with the current rules. "Users are forced to 'pay' with their personal data, especially if the price for a subscription is high," the AP added.

Privacy activists and consumer groups have strongly criticized Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for its new subscription options. The structure of the subscription options means that users are forced to pay a sum if they want to keep their data private.

The AP was happy with the watchdogs' position. "Privacy is not just for rich people," chair Aleid Wolfsen said. You need to have a free, fair choice. If a platform threatens to stop your account if you don't agree to have your movements tracked online, then that isn't a free choice."

Wolfsen added that tech companies cannot force people to agree to their terms so that they can sell the data to advertisement companies.

The chair thinks that an unreasonably high price for a privacy-friendly option leaves people with low incomes with no choice. "A lot of the time, they need a platform like this, for example, for their work or to stay in contact with their family. Leaving the platform is not an option, but paying the subscription fees isn't either. That isn't a choice; that is coercion."