In a blog post on Tuesday, the internet giant Meta stated that its new directive aims to address “evolving regulatory requirements.” Back in January, Meta faced two hefty fines totaling 390 million euros from the Irish Data Protection Commission on behalf of the entire European Union, due to violations of the GDPR regulations.
These fines were related to the company’s use of customer data for personalized advertising on Facebook and Instagram. Meta was given three months to comply with European legislation, which includes obtaining specific consent from its European users for personalized advertisements. Currently, all users automatically grant this consent when creating profiles on Facebook and Instagram.
Meta announced its intention to adapt the legal basis it uses to process certain data for targeted advertising purposes for individuals in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. The company emphasizes that this adaptation will not have an immediate impact on its services in the region and affirms its commitment to engaging in a “constructive dialogue” with regulatory authorities.
Europe is a crucial market for Meta, with approximately 300 million active users in the region by the end of 2022, out of a total of 2 billion users worldwide. European users contribute around one-fifth of the company’s advertising revenue.