EU privacy body adopts view on Meta’s controversial ‘consent or pay’ tactic

Incoming guidance by an expert steering body on European Union data protection law could have major implications for Meta’s advertising business model. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has decided that large platforms such as Facebook and Instagram cannot force a “binary” pay or consent choice on users, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing two people with direct knowledge of the decision.

Yet, a binary choice (AKA “consent or pay”) is exactly what Meta wants to enforce on users in the region. The decision looks set to leave Meta with no option but to reform its business model to comply with EU law, which would mean giving users in the bloc the ability to deny its tracking.

The EDPB has been meeting this week to discuss adopting an opinion on the so-called “consent or pay” model following a request made back in February by a trio of concerned data protection authorities. A spokeswoman for the EDPB confirmed to TechCrunch that it adopted an opinion on “consent or pay” on Wednesday morning, saying it will be published later today. However, she would not confirm the substance of the decision, saying, “We are not in a position to comment on the content of the opinion before the opinion is published.”

After EU regulators and courts overturned two prior legal bases Meta had claimed for processing people’s data for ads, the company went on to launch a controversial subscription offer in the EU last fall. The company claimed its offer constituted valid consent under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which regulates how personal data can be handled (including the need to have a valid legal basis for such processing).

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