A coalition of 28 organizations, including privacy activist Max Schrems’ group NOYB, has voiced opposition to Meta platforms new subscription service in Europe. Launched last November, the service allows users to pay a fee to maintain their privacy by opting out of targeted advertising. The group argues that this model sets a concerning precedent that may prompt other companies to follow.
In a joint letter addressed to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), the organizations expressed their concerns. The EDPB is currently preparing guidance on the consent or pay model, with input from various privacy watchdogs including those from the Netherlands, Norway, and Hamburg.
The core issue highlighted by the coalition is the potential normalization of a paywall for privacy protection. The organizations argue that privacy should not be a commodity reserved for those who can afford it. Instead, they advocate for privacy protections to be upheld as a fundamental right for all internet users.
Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram, defends its subscription service as a way to comply with EU regulations by giving users a choice in data collection for targeted ads. They emphasize that users who consent to tracking will still receive a free service funded by advertising revenue.
The debate underscores the ongoing tension between privacy advocacy and business models reliant on targeted advertising. While some argue that offering a subscription-based alternative empowers users to protect their privacy, others worry that it exacerbates existing inequalities by creating a two-tiered system of privacy access.
The team at DPOrganizer closely follows the case as the EDPB prepares to issue guidance on this matter, the outcome will likely have significant implications for digital privacy standards in Europe and beyond.
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A significant security breach has rocked France, with nearly half of its citizens affected by a breach at two healthcare payment service providers. The French data privacy watchdog, the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL), revealed last week that the two companies fell victim to cyberattacks in late January.
The breach resulted in the exposure of data belonging to over 33 million customers, marking a concerning milestone in France’s data security landscape. However, the CNIL assured that sensitive information such as banking details, medical records, and contact information remained uncompromised. Instead, the stolen data included personal details like dates of birth, marital status, social security numbers, and insurance information.
Yann Padova, a digital data protection lawyer and former secretary general of the CNIL, expressed alarm over the scale of the breach, describing it as unprecedented in French history.
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According to the European Parliament’s official press-release, members of the parliament (MEPs) “adopted the draft report on laying down additional procedural rules relating to the enforcement of the GDPR”.
“The proposal aims to harmonise cross-border cooperation by establishing common rules for the treatment of complaints and for the procedural rights of the parties involved, for example the rights to be heard and the right to access case files. It also fleshes out the co-operation and dispute resolution mechanisms of the GDPR, and introduces deadlines for cross-border procedures and disputes”.
“The draft position will now be tabled for a future plenary of the European Parliament. After the first-reading position of the Parliament is adopted, the file will be followed up by the new Parliament after the European elections on 6-9 June”.
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