Meta's shiny new bid to circumvent European Union privacy rules - by offering users a false choice between paying it a hefty monthly subscription for ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram or agreeing to give up their privacy rights in exchange for free access to its social networks, meaning they will be tracked and profiled by the behavioral advertising giant - has been targeted with a complaint filed by privacy rights group noyb in Austria.
noyb contends that the cost of the subscription is "way out of proportion" to the value Meta derives from tracking users in the region - citing reporting by the company that the average revenue per user in Europe between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023 was just $16.79. That figure would equate to annual revenue of â¬62,88 per user - whereas Meta's subscription puts a minimum annual cost for users on safeguarding their privacy of nearly â¬120, rising to over â¬250 for users who have both a Facebook and Instagram account.
The individual on whose behalf noyb has filed the complaint in Austria is in "financial distress" and receives unemployment assistance - indicating he cannot afford to splash out so much to protect his privacy.
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