Watch them cry foul, threaten to pull out, start a legal fight, then go nowhere like the abusive type they are.
I wish they would pull out. It's fucking ridiculous that so much of Europe is apparently just ok with using a Meta product for the defacto texting platform (WhatsApp).
Eh, it's not like we started using it because it was Meta's. They bought it when it was already popular, and switching everyone to something else is difficult.
Yeah, WhatsApp was ported to basically every single platform that was relevant in 2009-2010 when it launched: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, Series 40 and Windows Phone. Supporting Blackberry and Nokia mobile OS which were huge at the time as well as the new smartphone OS's was genius.
Sure I understand the reasons why it's this way, but it doesn't make it a good idea.
Oh, it's Messenger in Hungary. Not that it's any better, just saying.
I mean that’s basically the same difference. It’s owned by the same company.
But Messenger has always been Facebook, so those users "chose" a Facebook product. WhatsApp users mostly signed up before Facebook bought them (getting those users is why Facebook bought WhatsApp).
The choice to use a Facebook product was made for existing WhatsApp users by the sale. You can personally choose a different service, but then you also have to get all your contacts to make the same choice.
Meta is the cancer of the internet. The sooner they leave the better.
Meta's practices also collected protected data like race, religion, and sexual orientation. Meta disputed that it needed explicit consent, arguing that agreeing to terms of service was enough, but courts rejected this.
Oh please let this be the beginning of a global backlash against corporate EULA's and the start of a path towards a few well understood EULA's, similar to how we have a few well understood FOSS licenses.
Cool
Hwip
This is awesome but I don't really understand.
The purported issue is that they don't have explicit consent for some data points. They apparently responded by saying they were going to charge a subscription.
Why wouldn't they just get consent? I'm sure most fb users will just agree to anything put in front of them.
Facebook collects data from various sites and doesn't care if you are a user or not.
How can you get a consent from someone who doesn't even know facebook collects data from?
This is the funny thing. You don't. It has to be informed consent. ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪
Which makes Meta’s entire business illegal in the EU, thus the lawsuits and bans
It's about the part where they can't hide the data collection in the terms and conditions of the site. You have to have a separate clear consent step for them to collect the data.
However, regulators have questioned whether the prices are too high to give users a real choice.
I bet there is something like what of they don’t consent? Then they have the choice to pay the subscription instead of being denied access to the site and therefore not make any money for Meta.
I'd just like to thank the EU for having the data privacy laws that I suspect most Americans want but can't have because of the fact our country is owned by corporations
They're already starting their paid ad-free $10 a month tiers for Europe only. They'll stop showing advertising to underage people "for now". They're going to flood Europe with garbage ads and maximize subscribers that way.
I can't fathom people willing to pay $10 for Facebook and twitter .
Addiction is a hell of a thing
Hopefully they'll do that, so people would stop using their platform and move to a less money-hungry unetichal alternative.
What would the alternative be? A genuine question. I'm not a Facebook fan at all but here in Denmark so much is on Facebook. Announcements of the local playground, cafés, events, almost everyone uses messenger. It's insane. And if it's not on FB then it's on Instagram.
Seems to be working for YouTube!
And Google? And Alphabet?
And Amazon. Oh, and nowadays Microsoft has decided to join the club too.
a targeted advertising ban would kill just about every social media platform
They could just run contextual ads for much less effort and privacy violations, and still get the same or better result.
Nice
Nice. As someone who deals with compliance I know it's gonna be a huge pain for them to deal with, which makes it even better.
Must be nice living in countries where the government works for humans instead of corporations.
I will only believe it when I see it. It has been a few years since the EU is threatening a ban and meta threatening to leave the EU, so far none has committed any action.
EU didn't ban them because Meta complied. (the data protection bill, GDPR)
They will comply again, unfortunately. We could use a ban.
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
