The company which owns social media platform Facebook says it could launch paid-for subscriptions to the site in the UK.
Meta says both Facebook and Instagram are ‘free for British consumers because of personalised advertising’.
This is when adverts shown in your news feed are tailored to your interests and other adverts and posts you’ve interacted with before, in the hope you are more likely to make a purchase.
But Meta has recently agreed to stop targeting adverts at a human rights campaigner who took the business to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Tanya O’Carroll filed a lawsuit against Facebook for using her personal data for direct marketing purposes – which the ICO agreed she should be able to object to under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Calling personalised adverts ‘surveillance ads’, Tanya celebrated her ‘victory’ and said she believes this will pave the way ‘for the right to object to be used to stand up to surveillance-advertising across the web’.
But a Meta spokesperson said the company ‘fundamentally disagrees’ with Tanya’s claims, saying ‘no business can be mandated to give away its services for free.
The company already offers an advert-free subscription to EU users, and it may now extend this to the UK.
Adding that Meta is ‘pleased to draw a line under this long-running case’, the spokesperson added: ‘We take our UK GDPR obligations seriously and provide robust settings and tools for users to control their data and advertising preferences.
‘Facebook and Instagram cost a significant amount of money to build and maintain, and these services are free for British consumers because of personalised advertising.
‘Like many internet services, we are exploring the option of offering people based in the UK a subscription and will share further information in due course.’
Following the ruling, Tanya said: ‘In settling my case, Meta has agreed to stop processing my personal data for direct marketing purposes. In non-legalese, that means I will no longer be shown surveillance-ads on Facebook.
‘I believe this is a victory not just for me but for every UK and EU citizen as it paves the way for the right to object to be used to stand up to surveillance-advertising across the web.
‘I applaud the ICO for their rational and principled application of the law in their intervention in my case and for publicly confirming they will back up other UK citizens who wish to exercise their right to object in the context of online targeted ads.’
An ICO spokesperson said: ‘People have the right to object to their personal information being used for direct marketing, and we have been clear that online targeted advertising should be considered as direct marketing.
‘Organisations must respect people’s choices about how their data is used. This means giving users a clear way to opt out of their data being used in this way.
‘If people believe that an organisation is not complying with their request to stop processing their data, they can file a complaint to us. We will continue to engage with Meta on this issue.’
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