EU advertising campaign violated the bloc's privacy regulations
The EU's advertising campaign on the social media platform X breached its own privacy regulations. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
**Campaign aimed to “flip” perceptions on contentious proposal for messenger surveillance for child abuse material**
The European Commission’s data protection oversight body has determined that an advertising campaign executed by the EU on X in the fall of 2023 violated privacy regulations. The complaint was initiated by the privacy rights nonprofit noyb, which alleged the campaign illicitly employed “political micro-targeting.”
In a statement released on Friday, noyb asserted that the EC sought to influence opinion and “indirectly promote” a contentious chat control regulation proposal to users in the Netherlands. The strategy involved targeting politically liberal and left-leaning users on X in an effort to “flip” public sentiment.
The proposed 2022 CSAM law has faced significant backlash from digital rights activists due to concerns that it would compel messaging apps to engage in mass surveillance to identify and report child abuse material. Reports indicate that in June, the EU Council temporarily postponed a vote on this legislation.
Noyb claimed that the Commission's approach utilized “proxy data” to hone in on specific groups while intentionally excluding conservative users by focusing on individuals who showed no interest in certain keywords such as Qatargate, Brexit, Marine Le Pen, Alternative für Deutschland, Vox, Christian, Christian-phobia, or Giorgia Meloni. They pointed out that the data aggregation included sensitive political opinions without obtaining explicit consent from users, which contravenes EU regulations.
“Using political preferences for ads is clearly illegal,” stated noyb’s data protection lawyer, Felix Mikolasch. He further noted that many political entities take advantage of such methods while online platforms frequently do little to address these practices.
Noyb reported that the European Data Protection Supervisor confirmed the EU's unlawful actions but chose to issue only a reprimand rather than a fine, as the contested campaign had ended.
The EU had previously contended, in comments made to tech website TechCrunch, that X was culpable for not adhering to rules during the campaign’s implementation. It also asserted that it “did not intend to trigger the processing of special categories of personal data.”
Commission Spokesperson Patricia Poropat remarked to TechCrunch, “We take note of the [EDPS] decision on the Commission’s campaign to raise awareness about the Commission’s legislative proposal to prevent and combat child sexual abuse material online. We will now assess the EDPS decision.”
Aarav Patel for TROIB News
The European Commission’s data protection oversight body has determined that an advertising campaign executed by the EU on X in the fall of 2023 violated privacy regulations. The complaint was initiated by the privacy rights nonprofit noyb, which alleged the campaign illicitly employed “political micro-targeting.”
In a statement released on Friday, noyb asserted that the EC sought to influence opinion and “indirectly promote” a contentious chat control regulation proposal to users in the Netherlands. The strategy involved targeting politically liberal and left-leaning users on X in an effort to “flip” public sentiment.
The proposed 2022 CSAM law has faced significant backlash from digital rights activists due to concerns that it would compel messaging apps to engage in mass surveillance to identify and report child abuse material. Reports indicate that in June, the EU Council temporarily postponed a vote on this legislation.
Noyb claimed that the Commission's approach utilized “proxy data” to hone in on specific groups while intentionally excluding conservative users by focusing on individuals who showed no interest in certain keywords such as Qatargate, Brexit, Marine Le Pen, Alternative für Deutschland, Vox, Christian, Christian-phobia, or Giorgia Meloni. They pointed out that the data aggregation included sensitive political opinions without obtaining explicit consent from users, which contravenes EU regulations.
“Using political preferences for ads is clearly illegal,” stated noyb’s data protection lawyer, Felix Mikolasch. He further noted that many political entities take advantage of such methods while online platforms frequently do little to address these practices.
Noyb reported that the European Data Protection Supervisor confirmed the EU's unlawful actions but chose to issue only a reprimand rather than a fine, as the contested campaign had ended.
The EU had previously contended, in comments made to tech website TechCrunch, that X was culpable for not adhering to rules during the campaign’s implementation. It also asserted that it “did not intend to trigger the processing of special categories of personal data.”
Commission Spokesperson Patricia Poropat remarked to TechCrunch, “We take note of the [EDPS] decision on the Commission’s campaign to raise awareness about the Commission’s legislative proposal to prevent and combat child sexual abuse material online. We will now assess the EDPS decision.”
Aarav Patel for TROIB News
