Meta's new subscription charge faces complaint over claims it amounts to a 'privacy fee'
The complaint was made to the Austrian regulator but it will likely be passed on to the Irish Data Protection Commissoner. Photo Credit Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Advocacy group NOYB has filed a complaint against Facebook-owner Meta’s new paid no-ads subscription service saying that it amounted to paying a fee to ensure privacy.
The paid service launched in Europe earlier this month as a means of addressing EU concerns over the company processing users personal data for the purposes of behavioural advertising.
Users have to either pay for the ad-free service or consent to their data being used for personalised ads.
The complaint was made to the Austrian regulator but it will likely be forwarded to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner which oversees Meta because it has its European headquarters in Ireland.
The ad-free service cost €9.99 monthly for web users and €12.99 for iOS and Android users. Meta has said that a subscription model is a valid form of consent for an advertising-funded service and was in line with a July ruling from Europe's top court.
Vienna-based NOYB (None Of Your Business), the digital rights group founded by privacy activist Max Schrems, said it disagreed with Meta on the concept of consent.
"EU law requires that consent is the genuine free will of the user. Contrary to this law, Meta charges a 'privacy fee' of up to €250 per year if anyone dares to exercise their fundamental right to data protection," Felix Mikolasch, NOYB data protection lawyer, said.
NOYB filed the complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority. It also criticised the amount of the fee.
"Not only is the cost unacceptable, but industry numbers suggest that only 3% of people want to be tracked – while more than 99% don't exercise their choice when faced with a 'privacy fee,'" the group said.
"If Meta gets away with this, competitors will soon follow in its footsteps."
By comparison, Netflix charges €7.99 for a basic subscription plan, while Alphabet's Google, YouTube Premium costs about €12 and Spotify's Premium service is priced at about €11.
NOYB, which has filed hundreds of complaints against big tech companies ranging from Alphabet’s Google to Meta over privacy violations, urged the Austrian privacy authority to launch an expedited process to stop Meta and also impose a fine.
