Facebook must "minimize" personal data for ads in EU | Hacker News Reader

Facebook must "minimize" personal data for ads in EU

noyb.eu

52 pointsasymmetric16 comments

It sounds good but doesn't go far enough. Facebook should not be able to use any personal data for ads, unless it is specifcally opt-in. We should have laws that make it very hard for companies to retain personal data at all. Just look at what EU did for cookies: all we get is some annoying pop-up box now, asking whether we want all or necessary cookies.

We should be way harsher on these corporations.

And then how do you propose Facebook make money to support the platforms that people use?

I’m not saying I agree with the premise, but the general idea is that if a certain business can’t be built using ethical practices, that business shouldn’t exist.

I mean, the "ethical practice" is the alternative that Facebook offers to consenting to targeted ads, which is where you don't get targeted ads but you have to pay for the service instead.

Turns out that that isn't acceptable to the EU either, because as far as they're concerned the issue is not whether data targeting is consensual, it's "fuck Meta".

It's not "fuck Meta", it's "fuck tracking that people cannot opt out of". A part of that is that you cannot trade personal data as a payment.

But they can? They just have to pay then. Which seems fair since targeted ads are worth much more than untargeted ones?

No. People used to be able to trade their freedom for shelter and food as well. Are you saying that practice should've continued as well? Privacy is a human right and it cannot be exchanged for goods and services.

You’re just describing a job, and I really, honestly don’t see how getting shown targeted ads is such a privacy violation. Meta doesn’t sell the data, nobody looks at that data on an individual level, it’s just used to show you the most relevant advertisements

I would happily agree if the practice stayed at that level of providing ads for my zip code or locality only.

It is far more intrusive and there is no way to fully opt out. I just want to be able to say do not track me or sell my information to third parties.

The law is written such that the opt-out has to be a free choice. Demanding payment is not a free choice. In fact having the opt-out behind a maze of weird toggles when opt-in isn't, is not a free choice either.

The EU has decided that people should have a right to opt-out of having their privacy violated. Whether or not you think that's a good idea it DOES explain why things like "pay to opt-out" aren't going to fly.

They shouldn't. They should be forced into bankruptcy for their negative social impact.

Non targeted advertising, limited targeted advertising underpinned by genuine consent, paid features. All of these are lawful business models.

Facebook supports those in the EU

No, I don't think they do non-targetted advertising. Also this case was about the fake engineered consent for targeted advertising.

Regarding the cookie selection. It blows my mind why isn't this a setting at the browser level instead. Even with the "do not track" turned on, we still get these permission popups everywhere.

Rich coming from a union that supports spying on citizens every chat.

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