British users will now also be able to pay for advertisements from their Facebook, Instagram and (presumably) threads experiences, with Meta is expanding its ad -free subscription offer to users in the UKTo meet data management laws, while Meta is also able to maintain its income options.
As explained by Meta:
‘In the coming weeks, in response to recent British legal guidelines and after extensive involvement with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), we will introduce a subscription for no advertisements in the UK, this will give people in the United Kingdom the choice between continuing to use Facebook and Instagram with Personalized advertisements. “
According to the new offer, British users have the option to pay £ 2.99 per month (or £ 3.99/month on mobile) to retain advertising -free access to his apps. That will ensure that Meta meets the last one Regulating ICO guidelines, with regard to freedom of data protection and the capacity for British users to withhold their information if they choose, while they also maintain his own process for generating income.
Although this is not exactly the result that British privacy proposals had hoped for.
The British advertising -free range of Meta has been in discussion since March, then Meta a case solved With a British user who had objected to her data used for ad -targeting in the app.
In the original case, brought back to meta in 2022Uk Human rights campaigner Tanya O’Carroll argued that she has a legal right to object to the use of its personal data for direct marketing, according to the British consumer laws. Meta argued that his intended advertisements were not eligible as direct marketing, but in the end it chose to arrange the matter by ensuring that O’Carroll itself would not use its data by Meta for advertisement -purposes.
That was a technical victory for O’Carroll, but not the wider victory she had searched. But as a result, British officials have collaborated with Meta to extend this option to all users, what it does now, by responding in the same way as in the EU, by giving users the option to pay a monthly fee to eliminate advertisements completely from their Facebook and IGFeeds.
‘We bring this change in response to recent legal guidelines of the ICO. It will give people in the UK a clear choice about whether their data is used for personalized advertisements, while retaining the free access and value that the internet supported by advertisements makes for people, companies and platforms. Subscriptions, as an alternative to seeing personalized advertisements, is a well -established and economically viable business model that includes many industries, publishing news and gaming to music and entertainment. After discussing with the ICO, Meta offers a subscription for no advertisements at a price that is one of the lowest in the market.“
Privacy campaigners have, however, insisted on meta to offer a means to choose advertisement targeting, which means that users have to pay for this.
In Europe, Meta has received repeated pushback against its advertising -free subscription plan, in which some suggest that the option Undermines the focus of the AVG and its protection against ‘data capitalism’.
In response, Meta has revised the offer several times and has considerably reduced the price of its ad-free subscription package to appease EU support holders and to win broad support for the alternative.
But it is clear that Meta is still confronted with a tough fight to get full support for the program in the region:
‘EU supervisors continue to bridge by demanding that we offer a less personalized advertisement of advertising that goes beyond what the law requires, creating a poorer experience for users and companies. The more pro-growth and pro-innovation-statutory environment of the VK, on the other hand, makes a clearer choice for users, while we ensure that our personalized advertising tools can remain of growth and productivity for companies that can go up and down in the country. “
In essence, the argument of Meta is that if users unsubscribe from advertisements, it should still be able to earn money from them if they want to keep using his services. Which, in terms of free market dynamics, is correct, and every step to force meta to offer its services to users for free, would imply that Meta is actually a use, in contrast to a business offer.
But Meta is not in the hands of the government and cannot be measured on the same basis. So Meta is justified to reduce the EU Regulation, while the British approach seems to be more in line with Meta’s thinking, that if it is not allowed to process user data, it should be free to charge equivalent costs for access to its apps.
Apparently Meta still wants to better coordinate its EU advertising-free offer with expectations. But in the UK you can now pay to prevent advertisements and retain data privacy if you choose.
You can read more about the British advertising -free subscription offer from Meta here.
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