About F%$#ing Time

The European Data Protection Board  has ruled that the criminal enterprise formerly known as Facebook™ cannot stalk its users across the internet without their explicit permission, which blows a bigger hole in their business plan than Apple did.

This should have happened as soon as the EU adopted the GPDR became effective in 2018, and it should have been applied to Google as well:

Meta has already been coping with a slump in ad revenue this year, and now a decision from European Union privacy regulators threatens to reduce Meta’s ad revenue even more next year. According to Reuters, a person familiar with the matter said that the European Data Protection Board ruled Monday that Meta cannot continue targeting ads based on its own users’ online activity—like the Instagram reels they've viewed or Facebook profiles they've clicked.

………

Meta’s ad business was hit hard when Apple updated its privacy settings to easily allow users to opt out of third-party data tracking. On Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram, users could already opt out of such tracking on the websites they visited, but by joining the platforms, they agreed that Meta could track their clicks and taps within Meta platforms. That would change if the DPC agrees with the EU board, threatening to further reduce Meta access to behavioral data, and according to AdAge, Meta was already struggling with advertisers losing trust in the company’s abilities to effectively target ads. It already reimagined its ad platform once and would likely have to go back to the drawing board if the DPC upholds the EU watchdog group's ruling.

It should be noted here that the criminal enterprise formerly known as Facebook™ has been tracking users across the internet, and not just their own ecosystem, and they have, and continue, to track users who are not members of any of their products without their knowledge.

I expect this to be appealed, and given that, much like the other stalker technology companies out there, they are based in Ireland, which is famously obsequious to companies based there.

I expect Zuckerberg and his Evil Minions™ to win this battle, but I hope that they lose.