Joop Jansen’s Post

"Advertising broker Xandr (a Microsoft subsidiary) collects and shares the personal data of millions of Europeans for detailed targeted advertising. This allows Xandr to auction off advertising space to thousands of advertisers. But: although only one ad is ultimately shown to users, all advertisers receive their data. This may include personal details concerning their health, sexuality or political opinions. Also, despite selling its service as “targeted”, the company holds rather random information: the complainant apparently is both a man, a woman, employed and unemployed. This could allow Xandr to sell ad space to multiple companies who think that they are targeting a specific group. As if that were not enough, Xandr does not comply with a single access request. noyb has now filed a GDPR complaint." #Privacy #GDPR #dataprotection #Microsoft #TargetedAdvertising #Xandr   Subscribe to EDPO's newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/dwK8sde   *This article was not written by EDPO. The opinions and views of the author(s) do not necessarily represent those of EDPO. https://lnkd.in/d5X7FDDD

🚨 noyb has filed a complaint against the advertising broker Xandr (a Microsoft subsidiary)! 👉 Xandr collects and shares the personal data of millions of Europeans for detailed targeted advertising. This allows the company to auction off advertising space to thousands of advertisers. But: although only one ad is ultimately shown to users, all advertisers receive their data. This may include personal details concerning their health, sexuality or political opinions. 👉 Also, despite selling its service as “targeted”, the company holds rather random information: the complainant apparently is both a man, a woman, employed and unemployed. This could allow Xandr to sell ad space to multiple companies who think that they are targeting a specific group. 👉 As if that were not enough, Xandr reports an astonishing 0% response rate to access and erasure requests in 2022. Xandr even publishes these internal statistics on a hidden website (https://lnkd.in/dGZAJSKv) for everyone to see. 👉 noyb has now filed a GDPR complaint with the Italian data protection authority (Garante) regarding transparency issues, the right of access and the use of inaccurate information about users. Overall, Xandr appears to be in breach of Article 5(1)(c) and (d), Article 12(2), Article 15 and Article 17 of the GDPR.

👩⚖️ Meta challenges proposed ban on Facebook and Instagram processing personal data for advertising ❗ 🇮🇪 The Irish subsidiary of Meta has filed a High Court challenge to a proposed immediate ban on its Facebook and Instagram platforms processing personal data for use in behavioural advertising. The action comes after the tech company was recently served with an enforcement 📜 notice by the Data Protection Commission, following EDPB's Urgent Binding Decision at the end of October, informing Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd that it has seven days to stop processing data for use in advertising based on users' online activities and interests. Failure to comply with the enforcement notice is a criminal offence. The applicant is the controller and service provider for Meta's platforms in Europe… read more in Breaking News Ireland. --- #SypherPrivacyTalks Stay tuned for more:📌 follow the Sypher Solutions company page. We'll keep you updated on #dataprotection, #privacy, #privacymanagement, #GDPR, #GDPRcompliance, #DPO, #cookies, #consent.

When someone uses a supposedly “free” service without reading the T’s&C’s (terms of use) may have a wrong impression: the compensation for the use of a communication and broadcasting service without charge for the user is the authorization to use the information and data being inserted in the servicing platform. If you want to use the services without compensating “in kind”, then you will have to pay for the services. It is not exactly to pay for the privacy but simply you would be changing the compensation method. And I have to say that I am not a fan of the dominant positions unfairly achieved. However, when we want to exercise our rights we need to be coherent and as adults read the contracts we are entering into. In the case of Meta above, I wonder whether the headline is right or it might be an oversimplification for communication purposes. The rational behind it is clear if you read (as you should) the terms of use. Especially when it is not an essential service nor a Human Rights exercise.

"Meta was charged Monday with violating Europe’s sweeping tech competition law by forcing customers into a restrictive “pay or consent” model for ads on Instagram and Facebook — escalating a longstanding beef over user privacy.   Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s firm rankled regulators by rolling out a subscription service last year in which users could pay the equivalent of $14 per month for an ad-free experience on the apps – or consent to Meta using their personal data for targeted ads.   If Meta is confirmed to have breached the law, the company could face fines of up to 10% of its total worldwide revenue – a figure that could amount to nearly $13.5 billion, given the company’s global sales in 2023 totaled $134.90 billion." #Privacy #GDPR #dataprotection #Meta   Subscribe to EDPO's newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/dwK8sde   *This article was not written by EDPO. The opinions and views of the author(s) do not necessarily represent those of EDPO. https://lnkd.in/dZ64Gun2

EU regulators have accused Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, of violating digital competition rules by offering users the option to pay for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram. This move was seen as a way to comply with strict data privacy rules in the EU. The European Commission found that Meta's pay-or-consent advertising model breached the Digital Markets Act by not allowing users to freely consent to the use of their personal data for personalized online ads. The Commission is seeking a middle ground solution that does not rely on sharing users' full personal information. Meta has the opportunity to respond to the investigation before potential fines of up to 10% of its annual global revenues, which could be in the billions of euros. #AsiaRisk #RegulatoryEnforcementActions #SouthKorea Follow us for daily updates on risk and operations in Asia! https://lnkd.in/gFYaAKkN

A new development in the ongoing debate around online privacy and targeted advertising. European Union data protection watchdog has called on Meta (Facebook's parent company) to give users a free option to access its services without being subjected to invasive targeted advertising. The EU privacy regulator argues that Meta's current practice of requiring users to agree to personalized ads in order to access services like Facebook and Instagram violates EU privacy laws. 📢Key Takeaways: 🔹Meta should provide an option for users to access its platforms without having their data used for targeted advertising purposes. 🔹This would give users more control over how their personal data is used and monetized by tech giants. 🔹It could set a precedent for other major platforms to follow suit and rethink their reliance on targeted advertising models. 🔹However, Meta argues this would severely impact its ad revenue and ability to provide services for free. As users, we may need to rethink our relationship with "free" online services that come at the cost of our personal data being leveraged. What's your view on this? Should platforms be required to offer an ad-free paid option to protect privacy? Or is targeted advertising a reasonable trade-off for free services? Let me know your thoughts! Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eJiERmAd #Privacy #DataProtection #TargetedAds #OnlineAdvertising #GDPR #EURegulation #TechPolicy #MetaFacebook #SocialMedia #DigitalRights

📢 A personal note on an important matter which seems to be missed in the mainstream pay-or-okay discussions: 📐 The 'okay' variant (i.e. free, with targeted advertising) still needs to comply with the GDPR. To name a few obligations: 🤥 The "okay" consent should be informed and specific, comprehensible, clear and plain, making sure people exactly understand what they consent to. 👽 The personal data collected should not be used for purposes outside of the expectations of the users. 🧐 Personal data collection should be limited to what is necessary only for the targeted advertising, to be decided per data category. 👵 The personal data collected should be kept no longer than necessary - another decision to be made per data category. 👩⚖️ Meta & all other parties involved remain fully accountable for all these decisions and be able to demonstrate their compliance with these principles at any time. 💡There is no regulatory uncertainty here, but just a business model that makes it very difficult to comply with the GDPR and to take full account of EU fundamental rights. This problem can not be solved through the GDPR and by GDPR regulators. #responsibletech #digitalrights

The privacy organisation NOYB (None Of Your Business) has filed a GDPR complaint against Microsoft's advertising broker subsidiary, Xandr. NOYB said that Xandr is collecting extraordinary amounts of data to profile users to operate its services, but data on its own website shows that it complied with none of the 1,294 access requests and 660 deletion requests made under GDPR. Many people are not going to have heard of Microsoft's Xandr or what it does. NOYB has a nice explainer in its announcement: "If companies want to use targeted advertising to promote their products or services online, they have to go through so-called Real Time Bidding (RTB) platforms. One such platform is run by Microsoft subsidiary Xandr, which allows advertisers to buy ad space on websites or in mobile apps in a fully automated way. When a user visits a website, an algorithmic auction takes place in order to decide which company can display an advertisement. Because a users’ interests and characteristics ultimately determine an advertiser’s willingness to place an ad, Xandr collects and shares a massive amount of personal data in order to profile the users and to allow for targeting. Much of that data is bought by external parties like emetriq, a subsidiary of [Deutsche Telekom]." #databreach #GDPRbreach https://lnkd.in/d8cUR6S6

If even the biggest names in tech can't uphold their own standards, what does that mean for the future of digital ethics? It certainly raises serious questions about the balance between profit and responsibility. According to a recent investigation by the Financial Times, Meta and Google allegedly struck a secret deal to aim Instagram ads at teenagers on YouTube, directly violating Google’s own policies against targeting under-18s. #DigitalEthics #BigTech #Privacy #SocialMedia #OnlineHarms https://lnkd.in/e3q2A8AN