If you, like me, live in the EU, Facebook is now entirely clamping down and forcing free users to make their personal data available for monetization.

Attempting to access any Facebook domain and perhaps also other meta products will redirect you to the following prompt with a choice between either accepting the monetization of your user data, or coughing up a region-dependent monthly subscription fee: base (for me ~10€) + an additional fee (~7€) for each additional facebook or instagram account you have.

Now, the hidden third option. At an initial glance, it seems like there is no other option but to click one of the buttons - however, certain links still work, and grant access to important pieces of functionality through your web browser.

If anyone has information to add regarding Facebook or Instagram, please do share it. I’ve only (begrudgingly) used the former up until now, but I know many others use Instagram and don’t feel like giving a single cent (nor their personal info) to Meta.

  1. https://www.facebook.com/dyi - perhaps most important of all, now is a good time to make a request to download your Facebook data. Don’t forget to switch to data for “all time” and “high quality” if you intend to permanently delete your account.

  2. https://www.facebook.com/your_information - here you can find and manage your information, but crucially also access Facebook messenger.

  3. The messenger app: Still hasn’t prompted me with anything, though I expect that will change in the not too far future.

Currently my plan is to use messenger to inform any important friends that I intend to leave FB, and where they’ll be able to reach me in the future.

  • @b3nsn0wAEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    Read carefully:

    You 👏 cannot 👏 make 👏 personal 👏 data 👏 the 👏 price 👏 of 👏 a 👏 service.

    It’s literally that simple. This is not about whether the product is essential or not, it never was. It’s whether this business practice is legitimate or not. The GDPR clearly believes it’s not and it’s for a reason.

    If you do not need a facebook page to live, why provide it for free at all? Just make people either pay or delete their page. Do not bribe them with free shit to manipulate them into giving up their data. That’s all there is to it.

      • @b3nsn0wAEnglish
        1•1 year ago

        And you have a right to object to that.

        https://gdpr.eu/article-21-right-to-object/
        https://gdpr.eu/Recital-42-Burden-of-proof-and-requirements-for-consent/

        Threatening to disable a user’s means of communication as retaliation for an objection is antithetical to Article 21 of the GDPR, and goes directly against Recital 42. Removing your facebook page is a detriment. If there is a detriment to not consenting, consent is considered invalid, therefore facebook has no legal basis to process the data of anyone who clicked “use for free” on the prompt in the original post.

        • @[email protected]English
          1•1 year ago

          If your only means of communication is Facebook, then that is an absolute failure of your government and society and you have much bigger fish to fry than Facebook’s shitty ad policy.

          • @b3nsn0wAEnglish
            1•1 year ago

            you’re just hell-bent on missing the point, aren’t you?

            just stop. your idea that the loss of a facebook account is not a detriment will never stand up in court, nor should it.

              • @b3nsn0wAEnglish
                1•1 year ago

                at this point i genuinely believe that you’re just trolling. some companies like sony and apple absolutely do have this level of bootlickers who constantly move goalposts and try to convince people how they are ackshually right to do their extremely anti-consumer moves. but facebook? give me a break lmao. but even for a troll it’s such a stupid hill to die on

                i believe we adequately explored why your idea that corporations have the right to coerce people into giving up their data is idiotic. so idk, keep trolling and insert your next goalpost below this line:

                • @[email protected]English
                  1•1 year ago

                  I’m not trolling but you can think what the hell you want, I don’t really give a shit.

                  I don’t see it as coercion because Facebook is not a necessary service. And I think everyone here who is tearing their hair out and screaming about how “illegal” this new policy is are being overly dramatic.

                  It’s just as simple as that. Oh, and my personal hope is that the new policy will encourage people to delete their Facebook. I would love to see the site go up in flames like Twitter is currently doing. So you thinking I’m some kind of sycophantic fanboy of Zuckerberg and his “metaverse” is quite hilarious to me. 🤣