đ«đ° Meta, âconsent or payâ? The EU isnât buying it
Privacy isnât for sale: The EU Court rejects Metaâs âconsent or payâ model, shaking up the debate on data and user choice.
Imagine finding out that, to use your favorite social network without being tracked, you'd have to pay a hefty monthly fee. Sounds absurd? Well, that was Meta's tactic, tested in Europe, charging around âŹ13 per month from users who wanted to avoid personalized ads. Either you handed over your data, or your money. Now, the European Union has given a loud and clear "no" to that mess.
On April 29, 2025, the EU General Court rejected Metaâs attempt to overturn an opinion from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) that criticized the "consent or pay" model. The tech giant got a cold shower: the judges pointed out that the opinion doesn't even have legal force, so it canât be challenged. In other words, Meta lost the fight, and the opinion still stands.
The EDPB made it clear in its opinion that giving users only two options â âaccept being tracked or pay not to beâ â does not count as freely given consent, because if someone feels forced to agree simply because they canât afford to pay, itâs not a real choice (and I agree!). It also suggested that platforms should offer an equivalent free alternative (like non-personalized ads). Personal data is not a commodity, and privacy is a right for everyone, excluding those who canât pay from an essential service goes against that principle.
Meta claimed that the EDPBâs opinion targeted its empire of personalized ads and would cause serious financial harm (poor thing). Without being able to rely on this âworkaroundâ of forcing consent through payment, the giant will now have to rethink how to profit from our clicks. Maybe itâll need to invest in less invasive advertising, like contextual ads or sponsored content, who knows, right?
From the userâs perspective, the message is powerful: the EU is making it clear that privacy shouldnât be a luxury for the few, it should be the default. No one should have to choose between being surveilled online or being excluded from digital life. This pressure on tech giants might actually push for innovation, services that respect user choice, and privacy policies that donât rely on trickery. In the end, itâs a constructive wake-up call: the industry needs to remember that if something is âfree,â the price canât be the userâs digital dignity.
This EU ruling challenges that old clichĂ© we hear in every innovation talk: âIf itâs free, youâre the product.â Well⊠maybe itâs time to update that saying. Meta, and the entire industry, will have to figure it out: either offer users a real choice, or face bigger fines and consequences. The EU Court didnât just shut down Metaâs plan! It threw down the gauntlet: how far are you willing to go for someone elseâs data? Privacy is not for sale.