Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has faced a ban in Spain regarding the launch of certain features that would have collected data on voters using these social networks ahead of the upcoming European Elections.

The Spanish data protection authority AEPD invoked emergency powers to safeguard local users’ privacy. Meta has confirmed its compliance with the order, which can remain in effect for up to three months.

In an official statement, the AEPD clarified that it has directed Meta to suspend the implementation of Election Day Information and Voter Information Unit features in Spain. This suspension prevents the collection and processing of data associated with these features.

The AEPD’s actions are based on Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which empowers data protection authorities to address urgent risks to users within their own territories. Although Meta’s lead data protection supervisory is Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, the GDPR allows any relevant authority to intervene when necessary.

The AEPD expressed concerns that Meta’s planned election-related features would violate GDPR provisions, particularly regarding the lawfulness of data processing and data minimization requirements. Political views fall under the “special category” of data, necessitating explicit consent from users for processing.

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According to the AEPD, Meta’s intended data processing includes personal information such as user names, IP addresses, age, gender, and interactions related to election functionalities. The authority believes that collecting and storing this data could significantly jeopardize the rights and freedoms of Instagram and Facebook users, potentially leading to more intrusive profiling.

Allowing personal data to be accessible to third parties without explicit consent poses a disproportionate risk to user rights. The AEPD emphasized that this loss of control could result in unintended uses of personal data by unknown controllers.

In response to the AEPD’s action, Meta spokesperson Matthew Pollard stated, “Our election tools are designed to respect users’ privacy and comply with the GDPR. While we disagree with the AEPD’s assessment, we have cooperated with their request.”

The Spanish Data Protection Authority (DPA) revealed that Meta had planned to launch the election-related features for all users with voting rights in the European elections, except in Italy, where the data protection authority already has an ongoing procedure related to this matter.

Additionally, the European Commission is scrutinizing Meta’s preparedness for the upcoming EU elections. In April, the Commission initiated an investigation into Facebook and Instagram under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, suspecting violations of election integrity rules for larger platforms.

Source: BlogTech