Meta has been fined £343 million (€390 million) by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission for breaching EU privacy rules.
It is believed by regulators that the company – which owns Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram – forced users of the apps to agree to personalised advertisements.
According to Sky News, the tech giant has subsequently been banned from giving users no choice but to sign up to such ads. The personalised promotions allow Meta to target consumers based on their online activity.
The firm has said that it will appeal the fine and ruling and will not prevent targeted or personalised advertising on its platforms.
“The decisions relate only to which legal basis Meta uses when offering certain advertising,” a Meta spokesperson said.
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In 2021 Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Meta £193 million (€225 million) for breaking regulations in relation to the transparency of data shared with other Meta brands.
In total, Meta has been fined £1.1 billion (€1.3 billion) by the Irish watchdog to date.
The news of the latest fine comes a month after European Union privacy regulators attempted to prevent Meta from requiring users to agree to seeing personalised ads based on their activity online.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a board representing all EU privacy regulators approved a series of decisions ruling that EU privacy law did not allow Meta to use their terms of service as a justification for allowing personalised advertising.
