Meta has announced that it is bringing a change in how it will carry out targeted advertising in the European Union (EU). The company will now seek users’ consent in the region before allowing businesses to target advertising based on what users view on Facebook and Instagram.
“Today, we are announcing our intention to change the legal basis that we use to process certain data for behavioural advertising for people in the EU, EEA and Switzerland from ‘Legitimate Interests’ to ‘Consent’,” Meta said.
It added that the change is to address a number of evolving regulatory requirements in the region and is in line with a January order by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which set out the legal basis for how it targets ads.
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In April, the company changed the legal basis that it uses to process certain first-party data in Europe from ‘Contractual Necessity’ to ‘Legitimate Interests’.
Both Facebook and Instagram users had agreed to allow their data to be used in targeted advertising when they signed up to the services’ terms and conditions. However, the regulator ruled the company cannot process personal information in that manner.
We have listened carefully to regulatory feedback from the Irish DPC, including how it is interpreting recent decisions by the European Court of Justice, in deciding to make this change,” the company added.
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No impact on services in the region
Meta also said that there is no immediate impact on its services in the region. The company will share further information on how the process will work in practice over the coming months.
“Once this change is in place, advertisers will still be able to run personalised advertising campaigns to reach potential customers and grow their businesses. We have factored this change into our business outlook and related public disclosures made to date,” it added.
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