A human rights activist, Tanya O'Carroll, filed a lawsuit against the company Meta, responsible for the Facebook, claiming that the company is in breach of UK data laws. The activist questions the fact that she cannot refuse to share her personal information when using the social network. Facebook collects user data, and from that, the company increases its equity. Understand better here.
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Meta is processed by data collection
When using social networks such as Facebook, a series of personal information is held by the responsible company. and this information is sold to advertising companies, which use it to customize their ads. However, some countries guarantee, by law, the user's right to oppose this transfer.
Therefore, Tanya O'Carroll suing Facebook is based on the violation of her country's data law, after all, the company does not respect the user's will in case of the appearance of the desire to stop the collection of data. Especially because it is from their sale that the site's revenue is generated and the companies that buy them are able to sell more products.
When creating a profile on any social network, we need to accept a series of terms of use, however for O'Carroll some of them are unacceptable. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, she states “This case is really about all of us being able to connect with social media on our own terms, and without having to essentially accept that we must be subjected to extremely invasive tracking surveillance profiles just to gain access to networks social”.
Crime of data collection
Facebook, by imposing data collection on its users, violates article 21 (2) of the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The article says that every individual has the right to claim their privacy and prohibit the processing of their personal data by advertising companies.
By opening the process, O'Carroll believes it will give people an opportunity to claim their privacy rights protected by law. She started the process in the Superior Court, but if she wins, she does not intend to ask for any type of compensation, only seeks a response from the company authorizing its data protection against adverts.
The company Meta, responsible for Facebook, announced a statement that said it takes users' privacy seriously and for this there is a policy of use, which explains to users what data is being collected and the control over the adverts.