Meta’s Consent or Pay Must Not Allow Stalker Ads, Report Argues

No excuses for not changing Meta business model

A new report by digital campaigners, Open Rights Group urges Meta to amend its business model to comply with data protection law. The report outlines alternative business models that will not force Meta customers to pay not to be stalked by advertisers.

In March 2025, Meta settled a four year court case with human rights campaigner Tanya O’Carroll, who had taken legal action to force the social media giant to stop collecting and processing her personal data for advertising purposes.

The case clarified that all users have the right to opt out of profiling for targeted advertising and it is expected that as a result Meta will expand the ‘consent or pay’ model being used in the EU to UK users. This would mean Meta customers either pay for its services or let the social media giant use their data for advertising.

However, ORG and others have outlined that this approach is not lawful and that Meta must provide a tracking-free version of their services accessible without payment in order to implement consent or pay in a lawful manner. ORG’s report outlines alternatives that would allow Meta to profit from advertising while respecting the privacy rights of its customers. These could include contextual advertising or subscriptions for advertisers.

James Baker, Platform Power Programme Manager at Open Rights Group said:

“Meta must stop stalling and take immediate action. Its current advertising model violates data protection law — and the ICO must step in if Meta refuses to change course.

“By failing to adhere to data protection laws Meta are giving themselves an unfair advantage against other advertisers and media platforms. If they don’t make changes to their business model, the ICO and Competition and Markets Authority needs to step up and take action.”

In 2024, 98% of Meta’s $165bn of revenue came from advertising. From that revenue Meta generated nearly $70bn of profit.

Meta stalls for time

Since O’Carroll’s case was settled, thousands of people in the UK have used tools provided by ORG, the Good Law Project and Eko to exercise their right to opt out of profiling by Meta under GDPR. Others have contacted the social media giant directly. But Meta has cited GDPR to delay action, emailing users with the following stalling message:

“Our specialist team is investigating your request, which has presented some complex issues that we’re carefully considering. Due to the complexity of the investigation, this process may take up to another two months, as permitted under the GDPR.”

Baker added:

“Meta might have to re-engineer their platforms to deliver advertising in a manner that isn’t reliant on people’s personal data. However this isn’t an excuse for delaying their responses to people’s lawful requests to opt-out of personalised direct marketing.”