European consumer organizations accuse Meta of ‘massive, illegal’ data processing

European consumer rights groups have accused Meta, the company of Facebook and Instagram, of “massive” and “illegal” data collection from hundreds of millions of users.

Eight consumer groups filed complaints with their national data protection authorities Thursday, according to the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), an umbrella body for 45 consumer groups.

The groups say Meta (META) collects too much data on its users, including data used to infer their sexual orientation, mental condition, and addiction susceptibility, without their agreement.

The groups say the corporation violates provisions of the GDPR, the EU's landmark data privacy law.

“With its illegal practices, Meta fuels the surveillance-based ads system which tracks consumers online and gathers vast amounts of personal data for advertising,” the BEUC added.

Facebook was fined a record €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) by EU regulators last May for transferring user data to US servers in violation of GDPR.