Meta sued in UK to stop personal data collection for ads

Meta has built tools for privacy check-up and ad preferences, where it explains what data people have shared and how they can exercise control over the type of ads they see, Meta said in an emailed statement. — Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP

Meta Platforms Inc. is facing demands that it stop harvesting personal data for targeted advertisements in a fresh UK lawsuit that goes to the heart of Facebook’s business model.

Tanya O’Carroll, a technology and human rights campaigner, filed the suit at London’s High Court challenging Facebook’s "surveillance advertising,” according to the law firm representing her, AWO. Facebook violates general data protection regulations by processing and profiling her personal data that’s then tailored for the advertisements, they argue.