Meta Offers Opt-In Options For Personalization Ads In The European Union

Meta suggests creating multiple personalized ads (photo: twitter @fb_engineering)

JAKARTA - Meta suggests creating several personalized and targeted up-front opt-in ads for users in the European Union. This was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. If Meta's proposal was accepted by the European Union, the company stated that it would take them three months or more to let users choose whether to allow companies to target ads based on user activity on their social media services.

The company's proposal aims to end a prolonged dispute with the European Union over the use of personal data for advertising under European privacy law, as reported by The Journal. Currently, EU users from the Meta platform can choose to get out of this kind of targeting rather than choosing to participate.

For those who choose to leave, Meta will still target ads using more general demographic data, such as user common locations and their age range. Most likely, Meta's new proposal will still allow for more general targeting, but the public will have to wait for the details to be sure.

Meta's previously unresistant revenue growth was halted last year due to difficult economic conditions and Apple's warnings "Ask for a Non-Trace Application" which limits the extent to which Meta service data can be collected from third-party applications. Regulations that limit targeting based on what users do in their own app could be another major blow to its primary source of revenue.

Earlier this year, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) imposed a fine of more than US$400 million (Rp6 trillion) on Meta for handling user data on Instagram and Facebook. Recently, the DPC fined US$1.3 billion (Rp19.6 trillion) to Meta - the record number of fines in Europe - for the transfer of user data to the US, which according to the DPC could violate the privacy of EU citizens under the GDPR.

The European Union and the US have since agreed on a framework to allow tech companies to transfer and store user data in the US, provided they comply with privacy provisions in the agreement.

Meta's new short post-shaped app, Threads, is also experiencing delays in Europe due to "unregulatoryness" because Meta is not sure if its app, which is claimed to be in accordance with the GDPR, also meets the EU Digital Market Act (DMA) requirements.

DMA requires tech gatekeepers to avoid "self-reference" to their own products and services, and Threads requirements to own an Instagram account can violate these rules.