Facebook Custom Audience illegal without explicit user consent, Bavarian Data Protection Authority rules
Online shops and marketers routinely share customer data with Facebook to reach them with targeted advertising. Turns out: in many cases this is illegal. A ground-breaking decision by a German Data Protection Authority recently ruled that matching customers’ email addresses with their Facebook accounts requires their explicit consent.
Cold medicine when you catch the flu, outdoor clothing when you want to go hiking, diapers after you searched for baby care – targeted advertising on Facebook is everywhere. What many users don’t understand is how exactly advertisers target them on Facebook.
Facebook’s Custom Audience tool is one of many ways in which advertisers can find specific audiences on the platform. The tool allows them to get their message to people they already know, such as clients from their online shops or subscribers of their newsletters. It is one of the foundations of Facebook’s billion-dollar advertising business. It is also illegal, the way it is often used today.
Here’s how Custom Audience works: Advertisers upload a list with customer contact information like email addresses or phone numbers. Facebook then matches these with its own data to identify the desired audience. “In none of the cases we investigated, had companies informed their users, subscribers or customers that their contact information will be shared with Facebook”, explains Kristin Benedikt, head of the internet division at the Bavarian Data Protection Authority, in an interview with netzpolitik.org. Her office recently banned advertisers from using the tool and uploading people’s data to Facebook without explicit user consent. The Higher Administrative Court of the federal state of Bavaria upheld the decision in late 2018, after an online shop had appealed it.
Benedikt elaborates:
"We are certain that Facebook obtains additional information about users from matching email addresses, regardless of whether a person is already registered with Facebook. At the very least, custom audience data shows Facebook that a user is also a customer of a particular company or online store. This may seem harmless in many cases, but we have observed insurance companies that have uploaded email addresses, also online shops for very specific products. When an online pharmacy or an online sex shop shares their customer list with Facebook, we cannot rule out that this reveals sensitive data. The same applies when someone visits the online shop of a political party or subscribes one of their newsletters. In all of these instances custom audiences reveal granular insights. Facebook adds this information to existing profiles and continues to use it, without notifying users or giving them a chance to object."
Read more (english):
https://netzpolitik.org/2019/facebook-custom-audience-illegal-without-explicit-user-consent-bavarian-dpa-rules/
📡 @NoGoolag
#DeleteFacebook #CustomAudience #targeted #advertising #illigal #DPA #Germany #Bavaria
Online shops and marketers routinely share customer data with Facebook to reach them with targeted advertising. Turns out: in many cases this is illegal. A ground-breaking decision by a German Data Protection Authority recently ruled that matching customers’ email addresses with their Facebook accounts requires their explicit consent.
Cold medicine when you catch the flu, outdoor clothing when you want to go hiking, diapers after you searched for baby care – targeted advertising on Facebook is everywhere. What many users don’t understand is how exactly advertisers target them on Facebook.
Facebook’s Custom Audience tool is one of many ways in which advertisers can find specific audiences on the platform. The tool allows them to get their message to people they already know, such as clients from their online shops or subscribers of their newsletters. It is one of the foundations of Facebook’s billion-dollar advertising business. It is also illegal, the way it is often used today.
Here’s how Custom Audience works: Advertisers upload a list with customer contact information like email addresses or phone numbers. Facebook then matches these with its own data to identify the desired audience. “In none of the cases we investigated, had companies informed their users, subscribers or customers that their contact information will be shared with Facebook”, explains Kristin Benedikt, head of the internet division at the Bavarian Data Protection Authority, in an interview with netzpolitik.org. Her office recently banned advertisers from using the tool and uploading people’s data to Facebook without explicit user consent. The Higher Administrative Court of the federal state of Bavaria upheld the decision in late 2018, after an online shop had appealed it.
Benedikt elaborates:
"We are certain that Facebook obtains additional information about users from matching email addresses, regardless of whether a person is already registered with Facebook. At the very least, custom audience data shows Facebook that a user is also a customer of a particular company or online store. This may seem harmless in many cases, but we have observed insurance companies that have uploaded email addresses, also online shops for very specific products. When an online pharmacy or an online sex shop shares their customer list with Facebook, we cannot rule out that this reveals sensitive data. The same applies when someone visits the online shop of a political party or subscribes one of their newsletters. In all of these instances custom audiences reveal granular insights. Facebook adds this information to existing profiles and continues to use it, without notifying users or giving them a chance to object."
Read more (english):
https://netzpolitik.org/2019/facebook-custom-audience-illegal-without-explicit-user-consent-bavarian-dpa-rules/
📡 @NoGoolag
#DeleteFacebook #CustomAudience #targeted #advertising #illigal #DPA #Germany #Bavaria