Here’s an idea, Pinterest: Ask users for their consent before tracking them!
Today, noyb filed a complaint against the social media platform Pinterest. Most users probably know it as a visual mood board and use it to find ideas and inspiration. Advertisers, on the other hand, use the platform to push their products on consumers. Unsurprisingly, Pinterest’s business model is also based on personalised advertising and the associated user tracking. The problem: Despite a CJEU ruling prohibiting this practice, the platform uses people’s personal data without asking for their consent. Pinterest falsely claims to have a “legitimate interest” and enables tracking by default. Most other websites have abandoned this legally flawed argument years ago.
Want to use Pinterest? Get ready to be tracked! More than 130 million people in the European Union currently use Pinterest. The image and video-based social media platform allows you to search for all sorts of different topics, be it home decor, food recipes, fashion or travel tips. As with most social media platforms, Pinterest is partly funded by personalised advertising. To do this, the company tracks users - without ever asking for their consent, as required by law. Instead of seeking opt-in consent under Article 6(1)(a) GDPR, it falsely claims to have a “legitimate interest” in processing people’s personal data under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Tracking is turned on by default and would require an objection (opt-out) by each user to stop.
Kleanthi Sardeli, data protection lawyer at noyb : “Pinterest is secretly tracking European users without asking for their consent. This allows the social media platform to unlawfully profit from people’s personal data without them ever finding out.”
