The Daily Populous Sunday October 6th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by engadget.com and submitted by a_Ninja_b0y

Once again, the European Union has issued a ruling preventing Meta from going too crazy with user information. The top court in the EU ruled that limits must be put in place for how long Meta and other social media networks can use people’s information for ad targeting strategies.

TechCrunch reported that the EU’s highest court sided with an earlier opinion published in April by a court adviser. The previous ruling also urged for limits on the amount of time companies could retain customers’ personal data for the purpose of targeting advertising.

The rulings referred its retention guidelines to the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) established by the EU in 2018. Recital 65 of the GDPR establishes a person’s “right to be forgotten” and the right to rectification and erasure of personal data. Failure to comply with the GDPR could result in a 4 percent global annual turnover penalty, a number that could reach into the billions for a social media mega-corporation like Meta. Last year, Meta had to pay a $414 million fine (or approximately €390 million) for illegally requiring users of its social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to accept personalized ads.

DadOfFan on October 6th, 2024 at 07:32 UTC »

It would be nice if they also issues a rule that said social media cannot use your data if you are NOT a member.

Every time you visit a site, any site, there is a strong possibility that facebook etc are collecting data on you even if you are not logged in or even a member.

They all say "to change your privacy settings log in and do blah blah blah"

However if you are not a member you cannot do "blah blah blah"

Also by becoming a member so you can opt out they collect even more information on you.

This is particularly annoying when I turn up on a random website and it asks me to log in using my google account. Which I don't have (nor want) and the way to turn off this insidious behaviour is to log in to google. Doh!

donaldinoo on October 5th, 2024 at 20:26 UTC »

Must be nice. The most prosperous time in the US’s history was right after WWII. It was due heavily to regulations. Corporations systematically stripped those regulations across the board starting in the seventies.

HenneZwo on October 5th, 2024 at 18:06 UTC »

The rulings referred its retention guidelines to the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) established by the EU in 2018. Recital 65 of the GDPR establishes a person’s “right to be forgotten” and the right to rectification and erasure of personal data. Failure to comply with the GDPR could result in a 4 percent global annual turnover penalty, a number that could reach into the billions for a social media mega-corporation like Meta. Last year, Meta had to pay a $414 million fine (or approximately €390 million) for illegally requiring users of its social media outlets like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to accept personalized ads.

The EU and Meta along with other big tech companies like Apple and Google have tangled over the use of personal data in relation to the Digital Markets Act. Meta is currently awaiting a fine ruling for violating the EU’s Digital Markets Act when it required users to pay to prohibit the company from collecting and sharing their personal data. Last year, the EU’s Court of Justice ruled that Meta needed to obtain consent before delivering personal ads to users in the region.