Pay with money or your data": NRW consumer advice center sues Meta

The NRW consumer advice center is once again taking legal action against Meta Platforms Ireland Limited at the Cologne Higher Regional Court. It considers the payment model launched in fall 2023 to be in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The consumer advice center now wants to clarify whether Meta's "pay with money or your data" principle is permissible. In the view of the consumer advocates, Meta should first ask people without a subscription for consent to use their data for advertising purposes. As Meta has refused to issue a cease-and-desist declaration, the consumer protection agency has now filed an injunction.

"Companies that use Meta's analytics services receive extensive information about how users interact with their content or services", even if they have a subscription, according to the consumer protection agency. According to the consumer protection agency, users must be fully informed about how their data is handled and stored, which is not the case. It is also unclear what happens to the user data after the subscription is canceled.

The paid subscription for Facebook and Instagram users from the European Economic Area was launched in the fall and regularly causes discussion. Since then, Facebook and Instagram can be used without (personalized) advertising for a monthly fee of 9.99 euros per month. Due to growing criticism of the paid subscription, Meta brought a price reduction to 6 euros into play.

Invalid buttons

At thebeginning of February, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court ruled on the initiative of the NRW consumer advice center that the ordering process for Meta's paid subscription for Facebook and Instagram is illegal and must be revised. A paid subscription may not be advertised with buttons that do not contain a clear reference to a paid order. Instead, it only says "Subscribe" and then "Continue to payment, where you have to select a payment method". This violates German law.

(mack)