On June 6, 2024, none of your business (NOYB) has taken a significant step by filing 11 complaints against Meta with various data protection authorities across Europe. The complaints specifically target Meta’s updated privacy policy, which discloses its plans to utilize personal data for training its artificial intelligence (AI) models.
NOYB’s complaints span multiple countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Spain. The organization’s primary objection is against Meta’s decision to use images, posts, online tracking data, and third-party information for AI model training without obtaining explicit user consent.
Meta justifies this data processing under the legitimate interest clause, claiming it does not require user consent for the purpose. Users who wish to opt-out of this data usage must submit a formal objection by June 26, 2024, through a designated form. NOYB has urgently requested European Data Protection Board’s intervention to halt Meta’s activities until a decision is made on the matter.
NOYB’s concerns extend beyond the lack of user consent to Meta’s alleged violations of multiple GDPR articles. These violations encompass issues related to personal data categorization, differentiating between EU/EEA data and data from non-EU users, and general privacy protection protocols.
In response to Meta’s privacy policy change and AI model implementation, NOYB plans to lodge additional complaints in the remaining EU member states. The organization is awaiting a response from the data protection authorities to ascertain whether an urgent intervention is necessary or if the complaints will follow regular procedural channels. This development marks a crucial point in the ongoing debate surrounding data privacy rights and the ethical use of personal information by tech giants like Meta.
